Fengba Greenery

Chapter 447 Midfield Crisis
Chapter 27 Midfield Crisis

Failure comes so unexpectedly.No one expected that Manchester United, who were in such a good state before, would suffer a defeat in the Netherlands.

After the game, Ancelotti attributed the reason to the fact that the team did not get enough rest and had physical problems.

Manchester United returned to England from the Netherlands with the shadow of defeat.Having just suffered a defeat, Manchester United players did not see many smiles on their faces.

Since the beginning of this season, they have been winning, not even a draw. The sudden loss has indeed dealt a considerable blow to the team's morale.This is even more of a headache for Ancelotti.

The team morale problem has already given Ancelotti quite a headache, and what made it worse was that in the first day of training after returning from the Netherlands, Manchester United suffered two consecutive injuries and reduced staff.

First, Herrera touched his thigh muscles and walked to the sidelines without confrontation during training.Then in the confrontation training, Phil Jones and Fellaini collided. Phil Jones was fine, but Fellaini was injured and would be absent for at least a week.

Manchester United's defensive stability this season is largely due to the fact that the three midfielders of Fellaini, Herrera and Kramer have done a good job of protecting the front of the defense, but this time they suddenly lost two. The main force has a great impact on Manchester United.

In the midfield, Carrick is a trustworthy old player. At such a moment, Ancelotti is still very relieved to play him.

If the formation position is not changed, the effect of Carrick's replacement for Herrera should not be much worse. Perhaps Carrick's experience will help him even more.But Fellaini was also injured, which made Ancelotti scratch his head.

His first consideration is to let Phil Jones and Blind play this position.Both players have played as a defensive midfielder and have experience playing as a defensive midfielder.But they are also sure.Phil Jones has strong frontal defense and physical confrontation ability, but Phil Jones is inexperienced in the midfielder position. Ancelotti thought about it and ruled out Phil Jones first.

And there is Blind. Blind played as a midfielder for most of the season when he was playing for Ajax, and the effect was not bad. He has a very good sense of position in this position and has a long foot. The role of transmission scheduling.It's just that in a league like the Premier League, which is fiercely confronted and fast-paced, Ancelotti is not too sure about the effect of Blind's position in the midfielder.

Moreover, after Blind came to Manchester United, he still played as a defender most of the time. Whether he was a central defender or a left back, it was still very rare to play as a midfielder.

However, Manchester United's next game is just two days later, away to Southampton.Ancelotti had to make a choice earlier.

This season, Ronald Koeman's team started poorly. After five league rounds, they only won one victory.

However, the injuries of Herrera and Fellaini made Ronald Koeman feel that this is an opportunity to score points on Manchester United.

Manchester United has just lost the Champions League and lost a general.The overall trend of the entire team is downward.Despite the five consecutive league victories in the first five rounds, Koeman believes that Manchester United's winning streak will not last long.

Perhaps at St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton can bite off a piece of meat from a tired Manchester United.

The Dutchman grinned when Ronald Koeman was given United's starting XI.

Everything was as he expected, Carrick and Blind replaced Herrera and Fellaini, Manchester United is still a 4321 formation!
Ancelotti relied on this formation to win five consecutive league victories. In this case, Ancelotti would basically not consider changing formation.With enough midfield personnel, Ancelotti's priority is to make up for the gaps left by the injuries of Herrera and Fellaini.

In terms of other positions, although Di Maria returned from injury, Ancelotti did not send him to the starting lineup to be on the safe side, but let him sit on the bench.

Ronald Koeman looked at Blind's name on the starting list, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

.......
When the No. 14 minute of the game, Ronald Koeman smiled even more proudly on the sidelines.

"Mane!!! He received a header from the Italian high center Pellet and made a high-speed charge. He scored on the edge of the penalty area line!! One to zero!! Southampton!!! Southampton lead 4 to [-] Manchester United. Look at the noise made by the fans at St. Mary's Stadium, Manchester United conceded a goal in just [-] minutes of the game!!!”

Ancelotti frowned on the sidelines.

From the beginning of this game, he had a premonition of danger.In fact, before this goal, Manchester United's defense was threatened by Mane's speed many times.

And the crux of all this lies in Blinder.

That's right, Blind has a good sense of position and passes the ball well.But he has a rather fatal weakness, that is, his physical resistance ability is not good!
Southampton took advantage of this.From the very beginning of the game, Southampton's attack tried to break through from Blind.

High center Pellet is as tall as 190 three centimeters. He frequently sticks to Blind and bullies Blind with his body.Around Pellet, whether it's Wardplow or Mane, as well as Tadic on the other side, their speed is quite fast.Especially Mane, he is like a black cheetah on the court. When he adds up his speed, not many people in the entire Premier League can catch up with him.

Height + speed.

Southampton is taking advantage of Blind's weakness at this point and using this method to open a gap from him.

The No. 14-minute goal also proved that Ronald Koeman was ahead of Ancelotti in terms of tactical arrangements.

Southampton was just a very simple long pass from the backcourt, which hit Pellet's head, and Blind had nothing to do with Pellet. Before Hummels made a clearance, he shot the goal, simple and direct.

De Gea has nothing to do, the ball went into a dead corner!
Manchester United is in crisis now!
This point of Blind must be adjusted.Or arrange someone to assist Blind's defense...or...just replace him!

Use up a substitution in No. 14 minutes?Ancelotti was reluctant in his heart, so he signaled the three midfielders to change their positions, and Blind moved to the middle, and moved forward, responsible for resisting the opponent's NO.16 Ward -Plau torn, and Carrick and Kramer are positioned a little bit back, which lengthens the depth of the midfield defense, so that even if the opponent wants to repeat the same trick, they cannot be caught by Mane like the first goal conceded Penetrate easily with speed.

Ancelotti misses Fellaini very much now. If Fellaini is in the midfield, why would he be afraid of Pellet's header!
(End of this chapter)