da bet7： Manchester United booked their place in this season’s FA Cup final on Saturday by beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at Wembley, keeping their chances marking their campaign with silverware alive.
da bet vitoria： But the last time the Red Devils faced the Lilywhites, they suffered a disappointing 2-0 defeat in which they could hardly match the north Londoners for energy and attacking verve.
So what was the difference this time and how did United end up coming out on top in their most important domestic fixture of the season so far? Football FanCast take a look at three things Jose Mourinho’s side crucially got right against Spurs on Saturday…
Transitioning between 4-3-3 and 4-2-2-2
United lined up in a 4-3-3 formation on the team sheet but in actuality, it ended up being more of a 4-2-2-2 with Paul Pogba pushing up alongside Jesse Lingard in attacking midfield and Alexis Sanchez moving free of the wing to create a front two alongside Romelu Lukaku.
And the shrewdness of that transitional system really told after 24 minutes when the January signing headed home an equaliser; it was Pogba who drifted out wide to whip a beautiful cross into the Chile international, having moved from the left wing to make a late run into the box and attack the ball in a central area.
Getting the best out of Sanchez and Pogba while playing in the same starting XI has been one of Mourinho’s biggest headaches at Old Trafford this season, but the clever use of a system that shifted between two formations has offered a promising solution.
Pogba dominated Mousa Dembele
The last time Tottenham hosted United at Wembley the Red Devils went home with their tails between their legs, suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of their Big Six rivals. The midfield battle was crucial in that game and Pogba found himself subbed off with half an hour left to spare after being completely dominated by Mousa Dembele.
But on Saturday, fortunes reversed for United and Tottenham’s midfield powerhouses, this time the Belgium international finding himself hooked early after being overshadowed by the Frenchman.
It’s another key feature of United’s performance that was epitomised by the first goal – Pogba winning the ball off Dembele, who naively attempted to turn inside, before distributing it so accurately to Sanchez.
For all the talk of tactics and systems, key individual battles can have as big an impact on games and results. Getting the better of Dembele was crucial for United on Saturday and amid another season of divisive performances, it was a crucial display from Pogba too.
Keeping Spurs narrow in second half
If Tottenham have one long-standing flaw, it’s how their attacking play can become incredibly narrow at times, reducing to the rather one-dimensional approach of trying to play through the opposition in central areas.
Perhaps it owes as much to Mauricio Pochettino’s failure to change the game as any tactical instruction from Mourinho, but United nonetheless deserve credit for firstly how they contained Tottenham’s incredibly talented front four as they looked to pass through them in the second half, and secondly how they stopped the Lilywhites from stretching the backline.
Indeed, Christian Eriksen, Dele Alli, Harry Kane and Heung-min Son all ended up playing essentially within the width of the penalty area, which allowed Nemanja Matic, Ander Herrera and the two centre-halves to clog up space with their power and industriousness.
In fact, one of the few occasions when United didn’t manage to keep Spurs’ forward play inward was early on for the first goal, when the ball was chipped down the touchline and Eriksen crossed it in for Alli to slide home from close range.
Pochettino should have done more to arrest how central Tottenham’s attacks became, especially on a pitch as large as Wembley’s, but United’s ability to counter-act that was another aspect of Mourinho’s game-plan that worked incredibly well.
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