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Shots by Minute - Quality not Quantity was key here, the near 20 minute period in the middle of the 2nd half where Man Utd didn't manage a shot shows how well Swansea dealt with any threat |
I mentioned in the preview yesterday, that this was a great time to be playing Man Utd due to a mixture of injuries, Van Persie not yet being available due to his World Cup exploits and the fact that (even more so now), there will likely be a number of new signings coming in before September.
Man Utd had most of the ball but did relatively little with it, much was made of their over emphasis on crossing last season under Moyes but this seemed to be more of the same:
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First half crossing came almost exclusively down the Swansea left and the opposite side in the second half. 2 of the 4 successful crosses were from corners. |
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Williams with most Clearances and Shelvey with most recoveries. Jonjo made 4 fouls by the time of Man Utd's equaliser but none afterwards (although was one incident where ref played advantage). |
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Jonjo and Ki's passes received by half - Shelvey far more heavily involved in working with the ball in the first have but focused more of defensive activity in the second |
It was a bit of a surprise to see this tactic greatly reduced after Swansea got their second but is probably the kind of area you'd need to re-watch the game a couple of times as it could well be due to the extra protection Dwight received (from Shelvey?). Also looking at Januzaj's passes received he's a lot more involved down Swansea's right after Herrera comes off.
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Man Utds 2nd half take-ons, pre and post Gylfi's winner |
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Fabianski's passes to Bony (also played 4 to Gomis in the 15 or so minute he played) and Bony's aerial duels |
The big difference for me this season is the strength of the squad with a variety of options depending on opposition/score e.g.,
- 2 of Leon/Ki/Shelvey
- 2 of Bony/Gomis/Sigurdsson
- 2 of Routledge/Dyer/Montero
As well as other players such as Emnes, as long as we are not too unlucky with injuries we'll have the option to make substitutions that are like-for-like in terms of quality which hasn't been the case in previous seasons which is a credit to the club as it shows how they've used TV and transfer money to build season upon season.
Update: I'm looking at different ways of presenting match stats and the one below shows pass volumes based on an average of the last 5 minutes, this helps to show (roughly) the level of control a team has at any given time. As has been seen with the rise in counter attacking football over the last couple of years, not having the ball isn't always a bad thing but bearing that in mind it does show who has control at any given time.
Other Posts: Premier league Shot Location, World Cup Shot Location , World Cup Distance + Sprint Stats
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