Erik ten Hag's side beat Brighton on penalties in FA Cup semi-final last month; Dharnish Iqbal dissects how Man Utd stifled Seagulls' build-up play ahead of Premier League clash watch Brighton vs Man Utd live on Sky Sports Premier League from 7.30pm; kick-off 8pm
Thursday 4 May 2023 10:39, UK
Manchester United will face Brighton under the Sky cameras on Thursday - but how did Erik ten Hag's side stifle their upcoming hosts in their FA Cup semi-final win last month?
United booked their spot in the final on penalties after a goalless draw, spending most of the game halting Brighton's build-up play and ceding possession.
Tactics analyst Dharnish Iqbal dissects United's approach and how Brighton reacted...
United have prioritised cutting off central space and passing lanes against teams with effective first-phase build-up play, such as Manchester City and Arsenal. Brighton fit into this category.
Against the Seagulls last month, Ten Hag set his side up almost identically to the 2-1 win over Manchester City this year.
The aim is to stop passes coming into the main creators in central midfield by using man-to-man pressing.
The image above highlights this approach - cutting off passes to Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne. Against Brighton, the purpose was to stop the ball from reaching Moises Caicedo and Alexis Mac Allister.
Antony Martial pressed the two centre-backs, Christian Eriksen stuck to Caicedo and Bruno Fernandes tracked Mac Allister. Marcus Rashford and Antony made United's out-of-possession structure as narrow as possible, tucking in - to stop the pass to Danny Welbeck, who was dropping off and attempting to link up.
Brighton like to build up in a 2-4, with Lewis Dunk and Joel Veltman in the back two and the full-backs pushing into midfield - inverted or staying wide - to become spare men in midfield. However, Antony and Rashford tracked the Brighton full-backs when they did invert.
United congested the middle of the pitch to stop Brighton building up centrally. Rather than flooding one zone with players haphazardly, Ten Hag instructed them to pick up the man nearest to them.
Brighton's build-up play has received many plaudits, and rightly so. It moves through the gears as the ball gets from defence to midfield - exploiting an opposition press by luring them in.
But, opponents reduce the second phase of their build-up by sitting off and limiting passing options - making Brighton's central progression tougher to execute.
Ten Hag has prioritised preventing opponents from funnelling passes centrally and allowed teams space in the wide areas of United's narrow press - banking on winning 1v1 duels or clearing crosses.
It also helps United can call upon one of the best 1v1 defenders in the world in Aaron Wan Bissaka to win most of his battles with a winger - even if he faces a player as in-form and dangerous as Kaoru Mitoma.
However, it is a risky strategy: goalkeepers can play clipped balls wide over the top of the wide pressing forward.
Last month, Brighton found space when United's attack joined in the press with Martial as the lone striker. Fernandes or Eriksen would push up, which meant Rashford and Antony would also join selectively.
That movement left the central pivots - Caicedo and Mac Allister - unmarked. This is exactly what Brighton want opponents to do: jump up and commit in the press before distributing to one of their midfielders and spraying the ball wide.
Brighton achieved progression upfield by spotting the free option whenever United's pressing intensity increased - because of the gap between United's front five attempting to turn the ball over and their back five.
United were far more effective covering man-to-man, rather than pressing high and attempting to win the ball higher up the pitch. For most of the game, this is what they did and Brighton struggled to create clear-cut chances.
Against Arsenal at Old Trafford, during the Gunners most dangerous spell, United decided to press high and allow the full-backs (Ben White below) to gallop into the flanks - but an Arsenal central midfielder (Granit Xhaka below) dragged a United midfielder out of position.
The Gunners are also blessed with a skilful centre-forward in Gabriel Jesus, who was able to wriggle free and drop deep for the ball - receiving on the turn to then carry the ball 30 or 40 yards.
Brighton attempted to do this with Julio Enciso as an advanced midfielder, or with Welbeck dropping. However, Casemiro and Luke Shaw would take turns to follow them, switching to whichever player was closest.
Casemiro dropped in to cover when Shaw was pushing up from defence and dragged out of position to maintain United's shape. Brighton struggled with this out-of-possession approach.
This happened elsewhere on the pitch: United players picked up the closest Brighton player when space was vacated to maintain the formation. So it's man-to-man, but not sticking to one player.
Rashford and Antony guarded the inverted full-backs to help quash Brighton's back-up plan for build-up play, while Shaw and Casemiro marshalled Enciso and Welbeck - who were coming short for passes from the defence.
This happened recently against Aston Villa. Unai Emery likes one of his supporting midfielders to drop into the half-spaces, to receive and drag a defender out. Shaw was touch-tight on Emiliano Buendia, allowing him little room. Meanwhile, Casemiro covered a vast amount of ground to track roaming attacking midfielders.
On Thursday, we could see De Zerbi attempt to create confusion by pushing Mac Allister or Caicedo into the attacking line, pulling out Eriksen or Fernandes in the middle of the pitch and pinning them back.
During the second half last month, United were more effective at pushing up and harassing Brighton higher with an energetic Fred leading the press.
United did need penalties to win and only created a couple of counter-attacking opportunities when Brighton's build-up broke down but Ten Hag's approach to prevent opposing build-up play is a regular theme this season.
The Dutch manager may not want to deploy this approach long-term, but, for now, the fact his players are executing the plan is a good sign.
