Премьер лигийн шинэ улирлын нээлтийн тоглолтод Манчестер Юнайтед талбай дээрээ Халл Ситид 2-0 харьцаатай хожигдож, тэмцээнийг оноогүй эхлүүллээ.
Тоглолтын туршид зочин баг таван хамгаалагчтай системээр тоглож, Манчестер Юнайтедын жигүүрийн довтолгоо болон талбайн дунд үүсгэсэн сул орон зайг үр дүнтэй ашигласан байна. Халл Ситигийн гоолуудыг Реган Слэйтэрийн дамжуулалтаар Сэми Аджай болон Нобел Мэнди нар стандарт нөхцөлөөс оруулжээ. Тоглолтын дараа Халл Ситигийн дасгалжуулагч Серж Жакрович өрсөлдөгчийнхөө тоглолтын онцлогийг судалж, сул талыг нь оновчтой ашигласан гэдгээ хүлээн зөвшөөрсөн байна.
Манчестер Юнайтедын дасгалжуулагч Майкл Каррик багийнхаа тоглолтын хэмнэл, довтолгооны идэвх муу байсныг онцолж, ялангуяа өөр өөр тактикийн эсрэг тоглохдоо сайжруулах зүйлс их байгааг хэллээ. Тэрээр багийн дотоод уур амьсгал хүнд байгаа хэдий ч тайван байдлаа хадгалж, алдаагаа засах шаардлагатайг дурдав. Энэ тоглолтод Маркус Рэшфорд гэмтлийн улмаас 20 сар талбайд гараагүй байсны эцэст сэлгээнээс тоглолтод оролцсон нь онцлох үйл явдал байлаа.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
After the soaring success of Michael Carrick’s interim reign, his first season in permanent charge started with a plummeting low.
The 2-0 defeat to Hull City was bad not just for puncturing the positivity around Manchester United, or for meaning Carrick’s team remain on zero points, but for the manner of the performance.
United played the game as if it was a pre-season friendly, at a casual tempo with minimal penetration and limited decisive movements. Hull were, unsurprisingly, the opposite, playing with urgency on the ball and seizing the opportunity to hurt United at set pieces. On their first time back in the Premier League in a decade Hull won 50 duels, on the ground and in the air, to United’s 35. One of those was Bryan Mbeumo letting Regan Slater steal in to win possession for the opening goal.
Hull also laid out in a back-five, where the wing-backs stretched the width of the pitch to then put dangerous crosses into the box. It is a handful of games, but that approach has proved problematic for Carrick’s team.
That was the system AC Milan used last weekend in their 4-2 friendly win over United, when quick switches of play, mainly to the right flank, proved effective. Wrexham won their pre-season game 1-0 using wing-backs – their goal coming from a low cross from left to right with a man free at the far post.
More pertinently, Leeds operated in the same formation in their 2-1 victory at Old Trafford in April, attacking down the sides and firing over crosses.
Hull mainly played a back-four last season but turned to a back-five at half-time of a trip to Norwich in November, winning 2-0. They used it away to Millwall in the Championship play-off second leg, then in the final against Middlesbrough at Wembley too.
Hull charismatic manager’s Sergej Jakirovic explained why he chose it for their Premier League opener. “Because Man United is coming very high with Luke Shaw,” he said. “Also they try to overload midfield. So the first hour our main task is to close this gap between the lines, and then when we steal the ball we are very vertical, very quick.
“Also in those transitions we try to switch the side, because our wing-backs are completely alone, and then get numbers in the box. We had two very good chances, and also we didn’t allow any one-to-one 100 per cent chances from Manchester United.”
Jakirovic said he had seen “problems” with Carrick’s side that Hull could exploit (Photo: Paul ELLIS / AFP via Getty Images)
Ryan Giles set a marker with a terrific cross from the left, hit early, that Ollie McBurnie rose to meet with a strong header palmed out by Senne Lammens.
Asked whether he was surprised by United’s inability to apply pressure later on, Jakirovic said with a smile, not wishing to get drawn into commenting on others: “This is tricky question.” He added: “Of course we watch Man United three times, one time live, and we saw their problems, and we tried to use this.”
The system was on Bruno Fernandes’s mind. “They played a full pre-season with a back four, they went against us with a back five. Also to have some height, because they could get a chance from it and defend well from our set-pieces.”
Carlos Baleba is being bought with athleticism in mind, in theory he is better equipped to sprint out to the opposition player should there be a switch of play. Several United players looked flat, but Youri Tielemans especially so.
Both Hull’s goals came from dead balls whipped in by Slater. The first, a corner, saw McBurnie free at the far post to hit a shot Lammens did well to claw out before the ball fell to Semi Ajayi in space in the six-yard box, having evaded Harry Maguie and Noussair Mazraoui. The second, a free-kick, was glanced in by Nobel Mendy, who was again free close to goal.
Tielemans struggled to make an impact on his first competitive appearance for United (Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
Jakirovic revealed: “We tried something on Friday, we get some plan, we try to punish them, how they standing, especially on wide free-kick, to make some blocks there.”
Asked for specifics, he said: “It’s a secret. Just that you know I don’t have a coach for set pieces, Marko (Salatovic), my assistant coach, and Andjelo (Roguljic, match analyst), they are doing this.”
Privately, Hull felt United players gravitated towards the near post, so looked to take advantage by having men at the back.
Another reason this defeat felt so chastening for United was that eight of Hull’s starting line-up had come up from the Championship, a year on from surviving relegation on goal difference. Owner Acun Ilicali has turned Hull around, which is something Carrick can claim of United. He won 12 of 17 matches, losing only twice, to qualify for the Champions League. But this defeat was alarming.
McBurnie looked like prime Maradona at one point when he dribbled away from Ayden Heaven and Shaw, then slalomed past Tielemans and Mbeumo.
There was not enough ambition from Mazraoui down United’s right side. Diogo Dalot came on and United are unbeaten in the last 16 games he has started.
Marcus Rashford was the obvious substitute for Patrick Dorgu at the interval and he was greeted warmly by United fans as he warmed up for his first appearance for the club in 20 months. His understanding with Shaw was clear, finding his overlapping runs twice for cutback crosses.
Rashford hit his own cross to Benjamin Sesko, who was featuring for the first time since May and lacked a little sharpness.
Rashford is back and wearing the No 9 shirt (Photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Maguire tried to inject the most dynamism of any player, at one stage ushering Tielemans aside to get a loose ball and dribble forward with purpose. But Maguire up top 60 minutes into the opening game against a promoted side would not have been part of the plan.
Carrick is justified at minding against an overreaction, and United won after each defeat last season, but his team will need to be so much better for the visit of Ipswich. “We’ve lost today and I understand there’s questions to be asked, but it doesn’t mean everything’s wrong. There’s definitely issues playing against different systems. So we’ve got to find the answers for that.”
He defended his calm demeanour. “I’m talking to you quite calm, but I’m not exactly calm inside and enjoying the day. I played here [for United] for a long time. You don’t get to play here for a long time just going day by day, the ups and downs, but carry on as normal. It just doesn’t mean that we all have to shout and scream and come out and create some chaos just because of it.
“Inside we’re hurting, the boys know, and we need to get better.”
But this was a day when the stadium announcer was able to take pleasure in announcing to travelling supporters two trains back to Manchester had been cancelled. They will hope the season is not derailed from here.
