How Swansea exposed Manchester United's lack of midfield balance

Overload & Rapid Transition

Welbeck is appreciated by Moyes for his hard work and versatility up front, with the ability to lead the line, retreat to midfield, make challenges and even play out wide if needed. It was for these reasons that the England youngster was given the unenviable task of marking Swansea’s two holding players (see below). However, drawing on my understanding of basic mathematics, one player can’t mark and control the movement of two players. It’s impossible.

The 23-year-old’s job would have been far easier if Fletcher and Tom Cleverley had been able to mark the other midfielders, creating 3v3. But due to the fluid movement of Shelvey, de Guzmán and Wayne Routledge, Welbeck’s simple tactical instruction proved extremely difficult.

All three of Swansea’s attacking players took it in turns to stand within the alluring space directly in front of United’s back-four (see above), meaning that at any given time, central midfield was overloaded by five to three in the visitor’s favour.

It was via this tactical outnumbering that Swansea City took the lead.

The images show that Cleverley has decided to leave the centre circle to harassChico Flores, while Fletcher marks Shelvey. Swansea’s lone striker, Wilfried Bony, has withdrawn from the front into the hole, and as both of United’s midfielders are currently preoccupied, Rio Ferdinand makes the split-second decision to leave his defensive position in order to track the Ivorian striker’s run. Bony reaches the ball first and passes to the feet of Pozuelo, who fires it behind Jonny Evans into the path of the onrushing Routledge. Textbook pass and move.

In hindsight, the goal may have been prevented had United fielded a holding player – Bony’s run would have been tracked by the defensive midfielder and Ferdinand would have held his position for the diagonal run of Routledge.

All in all, the opening goal exposed a number of tactical problems that can occur in today’s modern game when facing a 4-2-3-1 without a ‘water carrier’. The ability to control central midfield is vital for any side, but the ease at which Swansea could place bodies in front of United’s defence (see below) – the most dangerous location on the pitch – will undoubtedly be alarming to Moyes and his backroom staff ahead of Saturday’s 5.30 pm rematch. Especially as it was a strategy utilised by the Swans throughout the full 90 minutes.

Time and time again, they initiated attacks by playing the ball to Bony’s feet, making sure a runner surged into space either side of Evans or Ferdinand as United’s defenders moved forward to pressurise. Simple, sharp transitions that sliced the Red Devils open with ease.

The centre of the pitch was also a problem for the home side when attempting to break Swansea’s pressing. Cleverley endeavoured to ease the defender’s distribution, in an effort to regain control of the match, but his thoughtfulness only left one passing option in midfield – Fletcher (see below). Even the best teams in world football would struggle to increase or maintain possession with such a blank canvas.

With an unfortunate injury list that swells by the week, along with the glaringly obvious midfield weakness when facing a 4-2-3-1 formation, it could be another lonely night for Moyes at the Theatre of Nightmares come Saturday.