There's Winning, and Then There's Winning...

Y'alright mate?

Another treble for Wazza

Winning is a thing of poetry, but doing so in a way that is so emphatic as to humiliate one’s opponents goes beyond the realms of even the greatest wordsmith. Yet many pundits will lavish Manchester United’s performances thus far with compliments and credit; and perhaps rightly so as well. This is especially fair considering their last three matches (3-0 over Tottenham, 8-2 over Arsenal and 5-0 over Bolton) have demonstrated their ability to hand opponents some painful lessons.

The Footy Fox will tow a more practical line. Simply put, any team can win with the proper expression of fundamentals married to a sound tactical plan, and United did just that. Have they managed to bring together some exceptional talent? Absolutely. But it’s also a matter of the tactical elements implemented through Sir Alex.

In United’s style of play, they’ve adapted defenders to move into attacking positions as much as possible. This leads to a pincer like movement of attack, one that surrounds the opposing goal area and then applies pressure to create high-percentage chances on goal.

We saw this on the weekend in heavy servings as Phil Jones (a center back) managed to dribble inside the 18 (yard box) on a number of occasions. Add to this the forward movement of Smalling and Evra, United was effectively attacking with 7 or 8 men constantly. All that was needed with such overwhelming numbers and pressure is precise one-touch passing and quality shooting, and the score line really began to run away, as it did against Arsenal and Tottenham.

The best way of countering it is either through aggressive man-marking and defending, as Bolton tried, or by cutting out the passing lanes to minimize the space for attackers to run into. Either way takes a highly disciplined and committed approach from a team, and since most teams don’t want to accept the need to simply defend and absorb pressure, it is often difficult to implement.  

A stiffer challenge lies ahead this coming weekend against Chelsea, plus there is the Champions League fixture versus Benfica midweek. Chelsea consider themselves title contenders, and offer considerably more experience in all positions that United’s previous opponents. So while Man United look to play with a confident swagger and sound tactics, the true measure of their abilities and limitations might be better known this time next week. But with Rooney netting another treble (hat trick), Chicharito finding the net for a brace (two goals), and strong performances from the midfield and defence, it’s easy to fashion an expectation for more of the same from the poets of the pitch. Jog on!