Sam Allardyce should be at a top football club. Him and pards must be fuming
THE UNDERDOG BULLY METHOD: How the game vs Sunderland was won, key Lammens role, United outlook
I see a lot of outcome-based analysis of United’s performance against Sunderland, which then leads to a pretty unbalanced analysis of the season so far. 🧵
The win was good, mostly because we desperately needed the points and because the players worked really hard to get them.
That being said, we should also consider how the game was won and what does it say about potential improvements to the underlying model.
In short, in order to attack and create United had on plan: go long, especially from the GK.
The plan was for Lammens to launch it long and direct as much as possible, not because Sesko can win every aerial duel, but because Mount, Mbeumo, Bruno & Sesko are good at challenging for 2nd balls.
That was the real in-possession plan. GK launches -> aerial duel for ball -> second ball challenge.
Mount was of pivotal importance for this approach, due to his relentless pressing & smart positioning.
And data confirms what we saw during the game:
▪️lowest number of short passes this season (excluding the Chelsea game, 45 mins with extra man)
▪️76.9% of all passes by GK were long launches, most this season
▪️87.5% of all goal kicks were launched, most this season
▪️highest avg. distances of GK passes this season, from goal kicks & open-play
We’ve seen this intent to go long and direct from the GK this season, but never as much as against Sunderland. I suspect going long is why Lammens was bought in the first place.
With these launches United were able to:
▪️bypass build-up, central progression & get into dangerous areas immediately
▪️exploit the gap in individual quality & physicality, to bully the oppostion
▪️avoid getting pressed in own half
It was a route one approach that, in this case, worked well for 45 mins. But is that really a platform for success?👇