Manchester United vs. Swansea City FC January 2nd 2016
Gylfi Sigurdsson Goal Analysis
Goal analysis and Tactical Breakdown:
Swansea possession starts around the half way line, the Manchester United Defensive Midfielder steps in to cut off a passing channel into a Swansea attacker and the Manchester United Striker stays high up the field near the Swansea defenders to make recycling possession difficult, Manchester United are restricting space around the ball are comfortable defending from here, they are winning 1-0 and forcing Swansea to break them down.
The Swansea Right back hugs the touchline creating space and width as Manchester United are compact around the ball, player in possession chooses a long pass to switch the play, the defending team shuffle as a unit to deny space around the ball, receiving player is immediately under pressure as Manchester United are given time to move over as a unit because of the long, floated cross field ball.
Under immediate pressure when controlling the ball due to the long, flighted, cross field pass, the winger puts the ball into the gap between midfield and defense, the striker drops to collect the ball drawing the central defender out of position to pressure the striker and restrict space.
The wing player who made the initial pass sees the gap in behind the occupied defender and continues their run to fill the space. The striker plays a clever pass into the space as they have their back to goal under heavy pressure from the defender.
The Manchester United left back and defensive midfielder quickly scramble to restrict a direct route to goal, 3 players pressure the attacking player, freeing up a lot of space for the advanced wing player. The player on the ball draws the pressure to create more time for the winger and releases the pass to the winger.
The winger uses the space to run at, and commit the isolated defender, whilst the defender does a good job to slow the winger down, they are unable to stop the cross from coming in. The attacking midfielder makes a late run into the area and Scores.
