How Manchester United dismantled Leeds’ defensive system yet again – tactical analysis

The opening game week of the 2021/22 Premier League season saw fierce rivals Manchester United and Leeds battle it out at the Old Trafford for starting their season in style. Both Manchester United and Leeds go into the new season in the hope of improving on their last season’s finish as the 13-time champions look to engage in a proper title challenge this season while the Yorkshire club aim to target a European berth. 

This tactical analysis discusses the tactics deployed by both Ole Gunnar Solksjaer and Marcelo Bielsa and how Manchester United beat their rivals and grabbed the bragging rights. Let’s begin the analysis.

Lineups

Manchester United went with a 4-2-3-1 formation despite Ole stating that a shift to a 4-3-3 was potentially on cards. Pogba was once again given a start in the left-wing while the McFred midfield partnership continued. Dan James played as a right-winger while Mason Greenwood was asked to lead the line ahead of Anthony Martial.

Leeds, on the other hand, went with a 4-2-3-1 / 4-1-4-1 system and Bielsa pretty much retained the majority of his first-eleven from last season with only Kalvin Phillips starting on the bench. Robin Koch started as the defensive midfielder ahead as the German was given an opportunity after a mixed debut season with the Yorkshire side.

Leeds set up in the same way as last season

Marcelo Bielsa has always stuck to his principles to whichever club he has been to and has always remained the same with respect to how he set’s up his sides. With Leeds, he revolutionized them with his man-marking approach and +1/-1 principles that drastically improved the squad. His man-marking approach has the midfield line pressing each of the opposition’s midfield while Bamford would be in charge to press the opposition centre-back where Bielsa would only use 1 player to press as to have an additional defender in the backline. We can see an example of that in the image below.