Anatomy of a Goal

Having studied the replays in depth, Rooney’s equaliser against us in the 20th minute at Old Trafford was a representation of all our on field problems in a microcosm. In the three phases of the move I look at what’s going wrong and why.


Phase one:

1 Agbonlahor receives a cross to chest. Slips over. Ball intercepted by Raphael at right back who had pushed up tight against the Villa man. Raphael takes the ball on a diagonal run to inside centre.

2 Weimann watches on, failing to track back.

3 Delph who had careered forward for the Villa break is now 15 meters behind play.

4 Westwood offers no forward ball pressure, drops of into the space between Raphael and Mata. Raphael then finds Mata who quickly spreads it to Kagawa on the right flank, 20 yards inside the Villa half.

5 Mata now drifts into the space 7 -8 yards in front of Westwood who is still dropping back. He can opt to go touch tight on Mata or pick up the continuing run of Raphael. At this phase he is undecided.

6 Albrighton, who is 10 yards behind Bacuna, though 5-6 yards from Mata, can also close Mata. He can also choose to pressure Kagawa, though he will do neither because he is busy tracking the run of Buttner who is just coming into picture. Westwood should realise this and close Mata.

7 Note: Defensively we are now in perfect shape. Bacuna is goal side and in a good position to close, press or time a tackle should Kagawa take the ball further. Vlaar and Clark are an optimum 5-6 yards apart, with Bertrand coming round to the front of Young who has drifted across from left wing. It’s a tight line, disciplined line. No danger at this stage.

Phase two:

8 Raphael moves to the top left hand corner of the 18 yard box. He is not picked up or tracked.

9 Delph has now drawn level with Mata and is ghosting 2 yards to his right. Mata continues to occupy the diagonal space between Westwood and Delph. Westwood at this stage has eyes on the play to the right and not on Mata who is 5 yards behind him.

10 There are choices to be made here. Delph could go touch tight against Mata, or he could call to Westwood to do so and move in closer to Rooney or Young. Instead he continues to drift. Westwood could also make a decision to instruct Delph or drop back to Mata. No decision is made.

11 On the right flank, Buttner starts to overlap Kagawa. Albrighton is level with Bacuna and is intent on tracking Buttner himself. Bacuna should know this or have an awareness of his right midfielder. If unsure Albrighton can call to Bacuna to close and tackle Kagawa as Bacuna seems uncertain as to whether he should close, track or wait for the run of Buttner. Either way, still no pressure on the ball or Kagawa. Poor communication from both.

12 Indecisiveness has led to no pressure, touch tight marking or tracking from Westwood or Delph as both Raphael and Mata have continued forward runs unchecked. As a result Vlaar has had to come across to pick up Raphael, leaving a 9-10 yard gap between himself and Clark, who has one eye on Rooney (who has just drifted in behind him) and one on the the unchecked run of Mata who is now six yards from the eighteen yard box.

13 Fastest man on the pitch, Agbonlahor, who’s lack of control caused the Man Utd break is jogging back and is 6-7 yards behind Delph.

Phase three:

14 Bacuna and Albrighton have not been communicating as suspected. Buttner makes the run for the byline pulling both toward him.

15 Kagawa now slips inside into unchecked space taking the ball to the corner of the eighteen yard box.

16 Raphael drops out of the corner of the eighteen yard box. Vlaar tracks him to the edge of the area, covering Raphael whilst closing down the space in front of Kagawa.

17 Bacuna adjusts and moves back toward Kagawa who is past him.

18 At this stage both Vlaar, Bacuna and Albrighton are in a six yard square of space facing Kagawa and the ball.

19 Mata darts past both Westwood and Delph who are now two yards away from each other as Kagawa, still completely unchallenged, shapes to cross.

20 Clark now has a decision to make: Does he stay on Rooney and go to Mata, leaving Rooney to Bertrand? If he does Young will be completely alone at the back post, that’s if Bertrand reads the move and shuffles across in time. Even if Bertrand does shift across Rooney will be in front of him. Or does he gamble that the cross is for Rooney and stick on him and leave Mata unchecked? He has a split second decision to make, forced on him by a catalogue of errors in front of him.

21 Clark opts to check Mata.

22 Bertrand stays on Young as the ball sails over.

23 Rooney heads home. Manchester United 1-1 Aston Villa.

Conclusion:

This was a really poor goal to succeed. Unfortunately, it is one in a long line of many resulting from the fundamental problems of poor communication and positional confusion. On the replay you will see that no one is talking, pointing, correcting or dictating. Good opportunities were lost to close Kagawa, Raphael and Mata and poor decisions were made as a result. Players seemed confused as to what to do in the first two phases. As a result they did not think quick enough or react with confidence. This has been the problem all season. This raises question for me as to defensive game shape and defensive phases of play. Lambert also needs to decide on a settled back four and his CB partnership. Consistent changes are killing us at the back.