Talking Tactics: How Moyes left Fellaini exposed vs Sociedad

Manchester United went to San Sebastian in the UEFA Champions League this week looking to wrap up qualification through to the knockout stages but couldn’t quite get the job done over their Spanish opponents. Real Sociedad might have had some good fortune in the result—from Robin van Persie’s missed penalty to Javier Hernandez’s shocking miss—but in the end, the Spanish club were able to hold the Red Devils to a scoreless draw on the night.

It might have seemed like a dour affair, with few highlights to talk about, but there certainly was not an absence of talking points for the defending English champions.

And as the film shows, those talking points will certainly give David Moyes a lot to think about.

The Struggles of Javier Hernandez

Having been linked with a move away from Old Trafford at some point this January or the upcoming summer transfer window, Javier Hernandez was given a great opportunity to show what he could do for Manchester United.

Known primarily as a goal-poacher more than anything else, Hernandez led the line alongside Wayne Rooney—a flashback to the 2011-12 season. He would act as the pure striker at the top of the attack and finish off what the likes of Rooney and Shinji Kagawa created behind him.

However, what was most clear throughout the fixture was that Hernandez isn’t suited to these type of games. As strong as his poaching skills are—evident at many points last season—the Mexican international simply doesn’t possess the awareness and attacking strengths required to start as the lone striker.

Even with Rooney alongside him, Hernandez was often caught not really helping with those behind him—and his Heat Map shows how ineffective he’d been.

Javier Herandez Heat Map v Sociedad

That’s not to say this was all Hernandez’s fault, per se, and it must be noted here that Sociedad did a great job in shutting down the Mexican striker. Their two central defenders—Inigo Martinez and Mikel Gonzalez—essentially marked Hernandez out of the game every time United went forward and rarely allowed him the chance to move into space whatsoever.

Throughout the course of this article look how tight the pair are to Hernandez.

As Kagawa presses forward down the left-flank, Hernandez is in a good position in the middle but he’s unable to receive the ball —which is what United really needed from their striker. Rooney has the option of pressing forward into the space towards Kagawa but what he really wants to do is get into the box, and allow Marouane Fellaini the opportunity to run in behind—something that can only happen if Hernandez vacates the space in the middle.

Call it a decoy run; simply call it movement—the principle remains the same.

Hernandez needs to be more active at the top of the attack if United are going to be able to get their midfielders in space.

If we fast-forwarded the tape, we’d see that Hernandez’s lack of movement crowds the penalty box by the time Rooney, Fellaini and Kagawa do get into the area. The two No. 10’s play a nice one-two combination, but Kagawa’s shot is hurried in the end and travels wide—something that might not have happened if there were more space for the Japanese star.

Squawka’s Pass Maps show a good comparison of the difference in United’s passing between the first half (when Hernandez was up top) and the second half (when it was Van Persie).

Man United First-Half Passes v Sociedad (80% Pass Accuracy)

Man United Second-Half Passes v Sociedad (72% Pass Accuracy)

What makes Van Persie so effective at the top of the attack is his movement around the penalty area.

He won’t always get the ball but he’ll be looking to make a run and receive a pass which, in turn, vacates space behind him for the likes of Rooney and Kagawa to exploit.

Hernandez was far too stagnant at the top of the attack, which allowed Sociedad’s central duo to essentially shut him out of the game. The fact that it took a miracle pass by Kagawa that went between the legs of two defenders for Hernandez to have his only shot of the game (which was missed, mind you) shows just how limited he was at the top of the attack.

Marouane Fellaini Exposed… by Moyes?

Since making his slightly-overpriced move to Manchester United this summer,Fellaini has hardly endeared himself to the fans. Maybe it was just the fact that there was too much hype on the Belgian international as the answer to United’s midfield problem; maybe he just hasn’t been good enough—for whatever reason, Fellaini has irked a lot of fans with his sub-standard performances, and many will point to this one here as another poor showing.

However, in this instance, I’m not quite as convinced it’s all on the bustling Belgian.

Fellaini was poor at times, but he was exposed in the middle of the field by Moyes’ team selection and tactics. In picking Ryan Giggs—who simply doesn’t have the legs required to be an effective double-pivot—to play alongside Fellaini in what was a very rigid 4-4-2 formation, Fellaini was forced to try and do so much against a slew of Sociedad defenders.

Whenever he did manage to get the ball, Fellaini was often swarmed with defenders and not given the space that he (or anyone) needs to thrive, as shown in the image below.

Fellaini has done well to win the ball, but in doing so, he has invited the other Sociedad defenders around him to make a play at the ball. Eventually they win the ball, and Fellaini—trying to win the ball back—is late to the tackle and picks up a yellow card.

Giggs, meanwhile, is closer to the sideline than the middle of the field.

For Fellaini to be effective, he needs to be able to have time and space on the ball in attack. In defence, he needs to have outlets to distribute the ball quickly so that he’s not forced into making desperate, lunging attempts to try and beat three or four players.

He’s not the most skillful of big men (you’d never see him dribbling like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for example), and it’s not fair to expect him to win a challenge—fairly—against four or five defenders.

Fellaini has been poor at times this season and he needs to continue to work on playing the ball early and staying involved in the attack. But in terms of his performance here, it’s hard to fault him for simply trying to do his best in a flawed system.

Moyes didn’t give his main midfielder enough support in Giggs, and it ultimately saw the Red Devils reduced to 10 men as a result.

The Positive Return of Shinji Kagawa

While there were several negatives for Moyes to take away from the scoreless draw, there was one positive takeaway, and it was the return of Shinji Kagawa once more. The Japanese star is quietly having a very impressive Champions League campaign, and his free-flowing role against Sociedad here almost saw United walk away with all three points in tow.

What was perhaps most interesting was the fact that Moyes used Kagawa effectively in a wide position.

Much has been made about his need to play in the No. 10 role and not be used as a winger, but what United did in this match was give Kagawa full reign of the left flank and the space inside of it. In essence, it was very similar to what Andre Villas-Boas did with Gareth Bale last year—allowing him to cut inside and play as a central winger from time to time.

Shinji Kagawa Action Areas v Sociedad

For that to happen, though, there needs to be space for him to cut-in, and Fellaini and Rooney did their job perfectly here in allowing that to happen. When Fellaini was more like a regulation central midfielder (or even a defensive central mid) and Rooney was like a true No. 10 (pushing up on to the centre-backs with Hernandez), space started to appear in midfield.

As a result, Kagawa—usually unmarked—would fill that space and be in a great position to launch an attack. Perhaps the clearest example of this was Hernandez’s woeful miss.

The finish (or lack of it) has been the biggest talking point in this movement, but rewind the tape back a bit and you’ll see the Rooney-Fellaini movement the cruical creates space.

With Rooney sitting deep on the field, right-back Carlos Martinez looks to pick him up and stop him being an option for the free-running Fellaini at this point. Hernandez is being double-teamed (as per usual), which makes the run of Rooney the most dangerous at this point. The Englishman is defended well, so Fellaini passes wide out to a fast-arriving Antonio Valencia.

The winger then attacks Alberto de la Bella on the right wing, and draws in another defender alongside him. Fellaini has dropped off into the space vacated by Sociedad’s midfielders; Rooney has pressed up into the box alongside Hernandez. And what that does, is give Kagawa a mountain of space at the top of the penalty box—which Valencia picks out perfectly.

The finish wasn’t there from Hernandez to cap off the move, but this showed just how deadly Kagawa can be in this “late-arriving No. 10 role. He’s still playing as winger given that he’s outside the right-back at the point when he receives the pass, but he has the freedom to cut in and utilise his attacking strengths from a central position when necessary—thanks to the movement and understanding of both Rooney and Fellaini.

It’ll be interesting to see whether Moyes sees the importance of other players around Kagawa when he next uses the former Borussia Dortmund star, and whether he can create the same “free-running” role for him as a result. Kagawa isn’t a dribbler or all that good in traffic, which have led to some struggles in the Premier League, but if he can play a similar role to what Bale did, he’ll certainly find great success this season—even if he’s not categorically in a No. 10 role.

Definitely something to watch out for.