Manchester United 4-1 Schalke: chalkboards
The starting line-ups
Even with an XI resembling a reserve side, Manchester United were extremely comfortable against Schalke, and will face Barcelona at Wembley later this month.
Sir Alex Ferguson made numerous changes to his side, rotating hugely ahead of the weekend visit of Chelsea. Dimitar Berbatov made a rare European start upfront, whilst Nani and Anderson were other notable starters.
Ralf Rangnick brought in Sergio Escudero and Benedikt Howedes, and started Julian Draxler in place of Edu, which meant that Raul moved further forward.
Schalke started brightly and showed much more attacking potential than in the first leg, but because they had to press high up and win the ball quickly, they left spaces at the back which United took more and more advantage of as the game went on. Antonio Valencia and Darren Gibson scored in the first half, whilst Anderson got two goals in the second.
There was never a moment when United really looked in trouble – even Jose Manuel Jurado’s goal came when United were already 2-0 up. The tie was over by half time, and the second half for United was about conserving energy for the weekend, and preventing suspensions for the final – all three central midfielders had been booked.
A full-scale analysis is unnecessary, but here are some chalkboards from the game, courtesy of TotalFootball.
Schalke full-backs forward
Schalke fielded five attacking players, but like in the tie against Inter, their main threat came from full-back. Atsuto Uchida played high up the pitch and tried to get crosses in, whilst Escudero tried to do the same on the opposite flank. Ironically, it was those two that were responsible for Valencia’s opener – Uchida’s pass was intercepted, and Escudero, trying to get high up the pitch, was out of position.
Valencia
Manchester United’s main attacking strategy was to hit quick balls out to Valencia on the right flank. The chalkboard of his passes received shows how many balls he picked up from the central midfield zone.
Van der Sar
Even Edwin der Sar’s distribution showed that United wanted to hit the ball quickly to Valencia – his passes to the left flank tended to go to the left-back, John O’Shea, but when hitting the ball to the right, van der Sar looked much longer.
Schalke threat
United might be concerned that Schalke managed to create lots of half-chances – and their goal – by players running off the ball of United’s midfield, into space on the edge of the box. The majority of shots were attempted from this zone.
United attacks
United’s passes in the attacking third were focused in wide positions, and they rarely looked to play through the centre of the pitch.
Hey
Did you say raul started am I mssing him on first chalkboard?
Sorry – fixed
Hey zonal, great website, any chance we will see a CL Final prediction from you?
Despite losing by three tonight, I actually thought Schalke were better tonight than there absolutely atrocious performance in the first leg, but basically United’s reserve team were still easily too strong for them, which really does put Schalke as being one of the worst teams ever to appear in the Semi Final of a CL.
By the way ZM, I was wondering, do you support a football team?
Despite that, Metzelder was still very poor today. Too slow and sluggish, and I don’t know why Hoewedes was hauled off instead of him.
He really is a very poor player.
Metzelder’s obvious weakness is his speed so playing high up the pitch against a team that is at its best on the counter-attack was never going to be the best showcase for his talents.
Yeah, of course they were better than their home performance. They were absolutely atrocious; anything would have been better. The only reason the scoreline wasn’t a complete embarrassment was Neuer-absolutely brilliant in that game. Today it was more of an actual game, rather than an entire team taking target practice at a brick wall in front of goal.
and all the goals were shot in low positions
Hey, will you be present at the final in Wembley and provide us with an extended analysis of the game with some pictures?
That would be most appreciated.
Should be an intriguing CL final….MU one of the few teams in the world that has the ability to press Barca and hit them on the counter attack, seemingly the only way to beat Barca’s possession game
“it was those two that were responsible for Valencia’s opener – Uchida’s pass was intercepted”
actually, it was Jurado who has lost it, not Uchida
check this
http://www.wudar.com/Man-Utd-1-0-Schalke-04-Valencia–1128532.html
Uchida successfully put through the forward pass. The recipient tried to do a link up play
choosing to pass on the first touch, but miscued it, and that’s when interception was made.
No shame in thinking it was Uchida’s fault ZM, since TV cam mistakenly zoomed at him
after the goal
thank you for clarifying.
Hey ZM, Just asking, do you personally prefer Man-marking or Zonal-marking???
i’m curious whether ferguson would field da silva brothers together again in the midfield for the final. it was a success during the fa cup against arsenal. both were quick, aggressive, able to dribble the ball forward and have some decent passing. i think they would come handy against barcelona’s style of play since it would be like having 2 park ji sung type of player, plus they can dribble the ball forward a bit further
. what do you think?
Nice thought, but I can’t see him leaving out Carrick or Giggs given their recent CL form, which your formation would do….
I think Jonas bro meant to field the twins on the ‘attacking’ flanks
i do mean centrally, not on the flanks, (i know it was their starting position during the fa cup against arsenal) because i think those twins (either one) were the closest ‘pepe’ type of player for united (park was not as quick as he used to be, plus his blunder against arsenal last week when he’s playing on the center midfield, fletcher has just recovered)
@seth: i agree, therefore i am curious whether it would cross upon ferguson’s mind
Neither has the same raw physicality of Pepe. I could have seen O’Shea being played there if Fletcher wasn’t ready. I’d imagine now that he’s back, though, Ferguson will go with Rooney alone up front with Park wide left (to track back against Alves), Valencia on the right, Carrick, Fletcher and Giggs in the middle.
@JH
nice point, but i think the lack of raw physicality of those twins could be a benefit, if they were used in a proper way. they have the same figure to xaviesta so there would be no story like ‘the big guy smashed the midget’; both were quick, aggresive n agile so they should be able to track back xaviesta’s movement (with n without the ball).
i’m still having nightmare from the 2009 final (iniesta’s through pass n xavi’s cross..)
Either way I hope we see a more sporting approach from Barcelona rather than their pursuit of red and yellow cards as has been evident in recent games – looking at you Alves, Mascherano, Busquets and Pedro!
Also, has the file on Busquets’ racist comments been thrown out or is that still hanging over him?
Wow this information is great! Thanks this has helped me alot! Im sure your post’s are one of the best out there! always
so acurate!
Nice and crisp analysis. But I really miss your analysis with the match screen shots.
Any chance of you doing a review on the Inverness-Celtic match?
kutgw
I do concur about the screen shots, which I used to find very edifying. i could give or take the celtic bit though.
……next comment
right, I’ve decided its time and I must speak out – what about? Those goals Manuel Neuer let in last night, that’s what –
– The first goal, not his fault – he did everything he could to keep himself as big as possible and cover every inch of the goal-space as he could – he was unlucky that the ball managed to creep under him.
– The second goal, definitely not his fault. The reaction time between Gibson hitting the ball and Neuer being able to move his hands to where the ball was travelling was virtually nil. It was always going to be down to luck for the ball to stay out. The main problem was the defense exposing him (just as in the first goal)by allowing Gibson to line a shot from the edge of the box: Gibson’s shot was perfect; what I mean by that is he was able to get maximum velocity on the ball due to the time he had to take the shot, coupled with the ball being at the perfect position in front of him (i.e. the ball wasn’t too behind him that he kicked it into the ground, or too ahead of him that he had to stretch for it) – look at the shot again – he could not have hit it better. As I said, all Neuer could do was get his hands to it, what happened after that was purely down to luck.
– The third goal, again, not his fault. He did well to get any of his hand on it, and again, it was purely going to be down to luck as to whether or not he could get enough of his hand on it to keep it out.
– The fourth goal, definitely not his fault.
The reason I’ve said all this is because it’s narking me off how all the pundits (last nights TV commentators, newspaper writers today etc) are talking about the goals as if it’s some sort of “fall from grace” for Manuel Neuer – Nonsense. A goalkeeper is only as good as his defense, and Schalke have shown that in 180 minutes of football their defense is truly shocking (they’ve shown it before – watch the Valencia first leg – whilst watching last night’s game my Dad turned to me and said “so, how DID Schalke make it this far?” – my answer was one word only: Neuer). Neuer is still probably the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment, and Man Utd need to pull out ALL the stops to sign him…….there, I’m done.
Have to say: 2nd goal, his failure. Could have used his foot. But every goalie makes failures, it depends on how often that happens.
but it’s right, the defense was the problem not the goalkeeper
yes, I did think that he could have used his foot, but in the split-second he had to make a decision it was always going to be tough for him…..but you’re right about him – he doesn’t make mistakes very often, and pulls out world-class saves as well!!!!!
Don’t worry, Mrs. Neuer, no-one’s blaming your son, and we still think he’s a very good keeper.
…..well, then that’s ok then. For a moment there I thought that I was going to have to fetch my block of BratWurst and get all “Bavarian Alpine” on your Arsch…….
My guess is that he was demoralized. He’s already signed to Bayern (don’t be silly people, Neuer to United… ha), he’s lost three games in a row and his defense is absolutely atrocious. He just wants out of the trainwreck of a team. Can’t really blame him.
Mr Ferguson made big gamble at semi final of CL. It was almost reserve side bar few attackers. It could go into odd shape if MUFC conceded early goal.
Most managers couldn’t do that in same situation for sure; Valencia did very well quick goal and assist. MUFC have great squad not because every players are good but because there are often one or two senior player drag team out of trouble when difficult time come.
good read, or view on the charts!
I was thinking about Schalke’s line up and their reputation in Europe (befor the game). It was often stated that Schalke is an attacking team, but under Magath they were more like a counter attacking team. And Rangnick’s attacking approach against Inter had its roots in missing defenders and the fact that you have to attack against this poor Inter.
I think against United it was a failure to field that many offensive players. Jurado is a playmaker and not familar with the deeper role (at least not against a team like United), he is not a passer or ball winner. The balance between defence and offence was not perfect against United.
Schalke was out passed in the midfield. For them, it’s a success to reach the semi-final and they showed that they are not experienced enough to compete with a team like United. After a full preparation this summer, Rangnick will shape his team. I hope they are able to perform in the domestic league and in Europa League.
I think that, as bad as baumjohann was playing, him coming off didn’t actually help. Raul dropped way too deep and though he was embarrasingly better than his midfielders at keeping possession and making basic constructive/progressive passes in build up play, it’s not exactly like he’s really a playmaker and his old legs were a liability when the ball got turned over, because he had to form part of the defense. Though it’s counter-intuitive I think that keeping him high up the pitch and putting edu on as a second-striker (even though he’s clearly a 9) would have been better. Raul could have opened up space with his clever movement for the energy and bustle of edu and the other runners who were at least willing all night, but without essentially leaving another gap in the already porous schalke midfield. Plus it would have kept Raul in the danger zone where his movement, execution and decision-making are more valuable.
Also, whilst it’s hard to draw too much out of this game about united given the pace and selections, they will need to be more compact and combative/alert against barcelona.
Also, random annoyance – just chucking on strikers is poor from coaches, why do they do it? You’ve got to have a basic tactical scheme when you make changes like that. You can’t just lump one on anywhere as Raul shows better than anyone – he’s still dangerous in the box and final third but any deeper and he’s a massive liability. Meh.
Raul looked tired in the end. Don’t think he was able to move much in the front so he tried to play a little deeper.
It would be interesting to see how many shots Edu had, I think he shot a lot from outside of the box. Would give the Schalke stat about shots a little twist.
I don’t know who was left on the bench. Two strikers an one defensive midfielder is not that extreme. A player like Rakitic would have been a good option. Although, even with one more creative (or passing) option in midfield, it was unlikely for Schalke to progress.
Edu came on at the beginning of the second half.. I would have thought that Raul would have been used as a slightly more advanced Bauamjohann. Although Scholes was playing last night, United didn’t have a specific DM, early on Bauamjohann and Farfan were finding pockets of space in front of the Back 4. Particularly with Scholes, who was typically the deepest of the 3 midfielders by default, on a booking after the first half, popping Raul on top of him and might have been a better decision? I’m surprised Schalke didn’t exploit this more, Farfan, Jurado and Raul can operate in the central zone – could they have overloaded Scholes and Gibson (Anderson seemed, to me, to have a free-er role) and taken advantage of their lack of pace, mobility and defensive prowess?
Yes, but the fact that Rangnick stayed in his seat the ENTIRE game showed that he’d already given up hope before the game began, and decided that Man Utds progression was a foregone conclusion……
Maybe he didn’t realise what to do? Don’t know. Maybe he stood up and we didn’t see it.
Maybe he wanted to push Unitet’s fullbacks back and was afraid to let the wide players drift central? I don’t know …
Nani was peculiarly ineffective. With Giggs old and Park half-defensive, ManU don’t really have an attacking left winger. Buy Bale.
I don’t think he was -that- ineffective, true his decision making is pretty poor at times, but when he does (more IF he does) put crosses in, they are always in pretty dangerous positions, even if whoever is in the box doesn’t quite always get on the end of it. In the second half, he was much better, especially when he started drifting and turning up on the Right hand side, he just seems so much more comfortable there.
This point of drifting in partucular, Ashley Young seems to have hit a renessiance playing this role where he is able to drift centrally then wide, particularly in search for the ball. I wonder if telling Nani to do the same would help, in the second half this was happening more often and Nani almost found Owen a couple of times when Owen drifted wide left and cut in. Although how good an option this is is marred by the lack of defensive ability but Schalke inthe latter stages of the match.
That said Bale is a good option, Ferguson tends not to buy the same player twice (i.e. players of the same position performing the same tasks, think Carrick/Fletcher/Hargreaves Passer/Destroyer/Holder) and a raiding left winger who holds the line well is probably an option. That said, he’d probably play Nani on right if Bale is on the left to keep the balance ala Valencia-Park Axis – who knows, maybe it would work well as Rafael/Fabio/Nani would replicate the Park/Evra relationship on the right. Don’t particularly think he’d be able to stump up what Spurs would want for Bale, especially as hes so young!
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I actually read this post…
I hope this year’s Champions League Final will be so much more interesting than in 2009. Barcelona vs. Manchester United. AGAIN)
I would rather you did Braga vs Benfica instead of this embarrasment of a CL semi final.
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My laptop has been A LOT slower than usual, and a lot of the pages on the internet don’t respond. I’m thinking it’s a virus, and i would like to know what you think it could be, and what i could do to prevent further viruses, and “cure” this one? anything can help
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We all know what formation Barca is gonna field.(unless someone gets injured)It will be very interesting to see what SAF does with his team, though.
Any predictions for the squad? My guess is that he will keep it standard and not go for anything new. Maybe play Hernandez in a 4-4-1-1.
anyone has any thoughts on a berbatov false 9? rooney giggs/carrick fletcher/anderson midfield?