Manchester United have proven to be a formidable force in the Premier League once again. After being fairly disappointing for a few seasons, they have most definitely re-established themselves as a giant of the game.
Right now, putting your money on them to win any game is a smart bet. They may not win the Premier League this season, but they are putting themselves in the driver’s seat for next season, and there are a number of things other teams can learn from the Red Devils.
Tactical Decision Making
Often criticised as just the “Norweigan PE teacher”, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has proven to be a bit of a tactical genius. Whether it be the team he chooses, how he approaches different opponents, and even down to when he makes substitutions and who he brings on.
No matter how teams have approached United, they always seem to slip up in some way. United have this ability to break teams down to the point where they almost give up, or make a mistake that just gifts a goal to United.
You see this all the time, with the passing and pressure that they apply to teams, that cause teams to get anxious, start lashing out, and more times than not, end up giving up a penalty. United are, simply put, incredibly annoying to play against, and most teams just can’t handle it.
Brilliant Out of Possession
Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for his tactic of attack, attack, attack while he was the manager at United, nowadays however, Ole has instilled an attitude of being just as energetic off the ball.
The amount of times, especially with players like Rashford, Greenwood, Cavani and Fernandez, have been in the right place at the right time just because they were mindful about what they were doing without the ball at their feet, or even when United don’t have the ball at all.
United have become incredibly good at counter-attacking football, and this is because their off the ball and out of possession play has improved astronomically. You can not counter-attack if your players aren’t in position to do so, and more times than not, United’s players are in the right place.
Strength in Depth
United have also shown how important it is to give your younger and lesser experienced players a chance. Not only has this given United more options, strength in depth is vital in this day and age of football, where you are playing so many games on a regular basis throughout the season.
So many teams have youth players available, but either leave them on the bench or send them out on loan, not even giving them the chance to gain first-team experience. This doesn’t happen at United, and youngsters like Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood are proof of what can happen when you give your youngsters a proper chance.
Great Transfer Decisions
Much like any other team, United have had their fair share of poor transfer decisions, but what they haven’t done much of recently, is buying “the best” players and hoping the team works around them, they have bought players that fit into the existing system.
Bruno Fernandes is easily the best example of this. A player who did well at Sporting CP, but was still a bit of an unknown entity, was brought to England and, within no time, established himself as one of the best midfielders in the league.
While this is obviously partly down to his skill, he just also just fits properly into how United play. He provides great service for United’s attacking players, knows how to inter-play with the rest of the team, and he can also just simply be a cog that keeps the machine moving.
“Never Say Die” Attitude
One downside recently is how United almost always concedes first, however, the counterpoint to that is the fact that they have become absolutely incredible at coming from behind to not only score, but to dominate the game.
So many teams have gone a goal up against them, been on top for the first half of the game, only to be absolutely dominated when the second half whistle blows. This attitude has been the reason why United are where they are in the table right now.
Compared to a team like Liverpool who have incredible players, but obviously at many points in their season suffered blows that really killed their attitude, they would go on to concede another goal or two and lose the game.
This is the complete opposite to what United have done in their games, and they have reached the point where you quite literally can not write them off at any point. There are a number of teams in the league who can learn from this, that effort and attitude will almost always beat skill.
These aren’t all the reasons why United is playing as well as they are right now, but they are most definitely some of the biggest and most important. The biggest lesson other teams can take from United is something that has just been mentioned, effort and attitude should never be underappreciated and underused.
