Quote:
Originally Posted by Critch
There's been a few days of rumors about Zinedine Zidane becoming new Man Utd manager. Brighton 3-2 Man Utd this afternoon should kick them up a notch.
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Loved watching this match - but was amazed that we managed to press them so effectively high up the pitch, they kept getting themselves into trouble ...
Brighton do a 2 man press where the funnel the ball player toward a section of the pitch where another man moves in (both to cut down passing options but also because it means the player with the ball can be tackled more easily), the concept is simple and generally the better teams are quick enough at moving the ball that it isn't amazingly effective, but Man Utd simply weren't moving around enough to allow the ball players to do easy passes away ... pretty funny as a Brighton supporter watching our 34 year old striker close down their young whippersnappers so consistently
We played really well and deserved the win (in my biased opinion) - that being said it could (and arguably should) have turned out differently, if they'd started with Fellaini in midfield and pressed more themselves then Man Utd would have found a lot more inaccurate passing from our players (esp. Dale Stephens who is a terrier in the tackle, but his passing can be woeful under pressure).
Knockaert also had his usual blinding game against the big boys after being somewhat invisible last week - he is awful at releasing the ball with passes but it is amazing to see him dribble into a mass of defenders and somehow manage to come out with the ball or a foul .... great player who if he was a little more unselfish and intelligent with his distribution could be world class, his work rate has come a long way since he joined us .. but it'll be interesting to see if he can improve further still (fingers crossed).