Andreas Pereira has been waiting in the wings for his chance at Manchester United for a while now, having gone out on loan to La Liga clubs Granada and Valencia in the past two seasons, respectively.
At one point, it was unlikely that he would ever make the grade at the club, but his impressive performances in pre-season in the absence of Nemanja Matić convinced José Mourinho to start Pereira in United’s first league game of the season against Leicester City.
It is worth noting that the Brazilian has spent the majority of his career as an attacking midfielder, either centrally or on the flanks.
Therefore, he is new to the role of the deepest midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation.
Nevertheless, it is in this position that the Portuguese head coach sees Pereira thriving, and his performances in pre-season as well as against Leicester suggest that the United boss may have got this call correct.
This tactical analysis, in the form of Andreas Pereira’s scout report, will look at how the 22-year-old midfielder fits into José Mourinho’s tactics at Manchester United.
Andreas Pereira Positional Intelligence
Perhaps the most important tactical aspect for the ‘pivot’ in a 4-3-3 formation is his positional intelligence.
The player tasked with playing this role must have superb spatial awareness, as their position on the field potentially affects that of every other outfield player.
Despite this being his first season playing in such a role, Pereira was superb positionally, varying his whereabouts on the pitch in accordance with the phase of play and the location of the ball.
His heat map and touch map from the game, provided below, will illustrate this further:
Andreas Pereira Heat Map Vs Leicester City
Andreas Pereira Touches Map Vs Leicester City
Pereira usually dropped in between, or rather, just in front of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelöf, United’s centre-backs, which allowed them to move wider and thus also allowed the full-backs to get further up the pitch.
This was not rigid though; the Brazilian was intelligent enough to move up the pitch when needed, especially on the left when Pogba surged upfield.
Andres Pereira’s positional awareness was vital to Manchester United’s build-up play and contributed towards the Brazilian’s excellence on the ball as well.
Andreas Pereira Passing Abilities
As stated above, Pereira was superb on the ball, with a 91.4% pass success rate.
The nature of his role becomes more evident when we look deeper into the numbers: Pereira made 58 passes during the game, of which only 9 were long passes, and 1 was a through ball, while he only attempted to find a teammate in the final third of the pitch 10 times.
This shows that the Brazilian’s remit was to recycle possession and maintain the tempo of United’s passing.
It was not his job to provide defence-splitting passes; rather, it was to give the ball to the players who would do that.
Nevertheless, the simplicity of Andres Pereira’s role was essential in ensuring that the Red Devils maintained a decent tempo throughout the game, rarely slowing down or keeping the ball for the sake of it.
He would usually find a man in space, rarely passing to a teammate under pressure or otherwise unable to receive the ball.
While this may seem like a basic requirement from a midfielder, its execution is vitally important to a team’s ball retention and positional strategy, and Andreas did a fantastic job of making sure that United did not lose their structure through a poor pass.
A few examples of the intelligence of Pereira’s passing are shown below:
Andreas Pereira Defensive Play
As the deepest member of the midfield trio, Pereira would have to put in his share of defensive work.
He is not the most imposing physical specimen, but once again, his job was not to use brute force but rather to position himself intelligently enough to reduce scoring opportunities for Leicester.
The stats bear this out: Pereira made five interceptions in the game, the most of any United player, while also chipping in with three tackles, only fewer than Matteo Darmian.
Pereira occupied the zone in front of United’s defence and was usually at arm’s length from his direct opponent, James Maddison.
His positioning and its role in shutting down Leicester attacks are illustrated below:
Conclusion
Andreas Pereira performed exceptionally well in a position that is not his usual role for Manchester United, and his success there has given Jose Mourinho another midfield option to consider for upcoming games.
Nemanja Matić appears to be the first-choice player for that position when fit, but the Serbian was extremely overworked last season and looked noticeably tired as the campaign progressed.
The Brazilian provides capable backup for Matić, and Andreas Pereira’s style of play would certainly allow him to deputise for Fred and Pogba as well.
It is thus worth keeping an eye on one of Old Trafford’s biggest prospects this season, who, at the age of 22, may finally establish himself amidst a familiar environment, albeit in an unfamiliar role.
