The Premier League officially kicked off last weekend, bringing an end to the anticipation after all sorts of changes took place among the clubs in the competition. No club had a higher profile offseason than Manchester United, who replaced their manager Louis van Gaal with his former pupil, the notorious Jose Mourinho. They also brought in high profile signings, namely Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, and Paul Pogba, breaking the world transfer fee record in the process.

United hosted Southampton for the first match at Old Trafford in the 2016-2017 campaign. Southampton underwent many changes in their own right, with Sadio Mane, Victor Wanyama, and Graziano Pelle each changing clubs along with their manager Ronald Koeman. Claude Puel has been brought in to steady the ship, signing young talents such as Pierre-Emile Højbjerg and Nathan Redmond. Oriol Romeu started the match at the base of Puel’s 4-4-2 diamond, but was subbed off after 10 minutes due to injury for Jordy Clasie.

United generate attacks from wide areas

Each team in this contest focused their attacks on the wings. Manchester United’s emphasis on wing play was by design, as they were a key facet of United’s direct attacking approach.

Because of Southampton’s 4-4-2 diamond shape, United could easily create numerically superior situations out wide when their full backs advanced up the pitch. Through the movements of the midfielders, particularly Rooney and Paul Pogba more often than not, wide areas would then be overloaded. From these situations, United looked to penetrate into the penalty area either through crosses into Ibrahimovic, cutbacks, or quick combination play that was predicated on the individual talent of the attack rather than rehearsed pattern play. Ibrahimovic put away one of these crosses to make up one half of his brace, with the second coming from the spot after combination play in the left halfspace and flank led to Clasie clumsily fouling Luke Shaw.

A situation that United did look to create often was 1v1 scenarios with Antonio Valencia against Matt Targett. Valencia at times was left purposefully isolated on the wings, creating a qualitative advantage. The Ecuadorian often looked to beat Targett on the dribble in the final third before he crossed the ball. However, he was inconsistent with his delivery.

Manchester United also were quick to counter in transition when they won the ball. This urgency on the counter attack is a trademark of Mourinho’s teams and a key aspect of frustrating their opponents. On said counter attacks, United’s midfielders played flighted balls in behind Southampton’s back four to stretch them out. From these situations, no seriously threatening opportunities arose as the Saints recovered quickly and prevented the pace of Martial and Pogba from being overly decisive.

Now to the main narrative leading up to night, Pogba was impressive during the match for his second debut for United. For years it seems like, Manchester United has been missing a presence in their midfield that could also contribute goals in their attack. Midfield has been one of the weaker points for the Mancunians over the past couple of seasons, with their struggles to penetrate defenses under Louis van Gaal well documented. The first impression of Pogba at United is that he can be the solution to that problem. His attacking capability is well known, as he possesses fantastic close control which is a huge asset when it comes to playing in tight spaces and press evasion, in addition to a great passing range and long distance shot. The Frenchman’s physical attributes will be of great service to Mourinho as well, who has built his teams in years past using an incredibly strong and fit core of players.

The Red Devils were a bit suspect however upon losing possession. Southampton had some considerable success countering against the hosts when United were constructing attacks in the opposition half. Due to the advanced positioning of Shaw and Valencia, Redmond and Long intelligently bent their runs wide to create additional space for the front line to run at United’s defense. The visiting side found themselves in potentially rewarding areas, but the backline of Manchester did well to intervene.

Mourinho’s team in attack was somewhat free form and fluid in their structure. Among the front four players, they frequently interchanged with each other, demonstrating fluidity. Martial and Mata often occupied the halfspaces as they both drifted inside, while Ibrahimovic dropped deep to receive the ball from midfielders, acting in a role akin to the one he played in Blanc’s system at PSG. Overall, United’s direct attack was satisfactory on the night, but additional work is required for when Mourinho squares off against teams with similar talent levels, as relying on individual ability will only be able to propel a team so far.

United Defensive Organization & Southampton’s adjustments

Jose Mourinho is most well known as a manager for his team’s defensive organization and medium/low block that he frequently sets his teams up in. They are the cornerstone to his tactical philosophy and just one of many reasons why he is considered of the best managers in the world today. The elementary foundations of this style are clearly in effect with United, as Southampton could hardly generate anything in central zones.

United’s low pressing block was arranged in a 4-4-1-1 on the night, with Rooney dropping in periodically to create a line of five. Their compactness from a vertical perspective was impressive, but their horizontal compactness at times didn’t hold the same standard, as Mata and Martial both had instances where they could’ve tucked in additionally to provide support for their full backs and midfielders to their inside.

In his interactions with the press, Jose Mourinho had spoken of how he wishes to change his team’s defensive scheme to a zonal system from the man-oriented approach of van Gaal. He particularly emphasized the difficulty of adjusting from one method to the other. In this match, the progress was evident. Mourinho’s team exhibited great control of the center of the park, where Fellaini and Pogba did well to block the central passing lanes into the crafty Dusan Tadic, who searched for space to work with throughout the match. Southampton as a result built their attacks from wider areas. Nathan Redmond and Jordy Clasie overloaded the right wing to decent success, and Tadic found himself in the halfspaces frequently to provide support for the full backs.

Spaces opened up in the first half as United entered a cycle of counter attacking, causing a visible disconnect between the front four and the defensive unit. Southampton were most threatening in this spell of the match, but after United took the lead, the home side reverted back to their tactical plan. Following Zlatan’s second goal of the night, United set up shop and sat back, preventing the Saints from penetrating in doing so. Southampton made attacking substitutions in the form of Charlie Austin and Jay Rodriguez, but to no avail as they hardly managed to get a foothold in the match.

Conclusion

To neutral eyes, this game was uneventful and some would maybe even say boring if you took away the star studded storyline of the night. However, Mourinho would be thrilled with his team being very effective and organized. This is the sort of style of play that Premier League viewers should come to expect from Manchester United this year, so if anyone was expecting the attacking football from the Ferguson era, you will be disappointed. United will be thrilled with the debut performance from Paul Pogba, and the early performances of Ibrahimovic, both of whom have settled into the team easily and look to play a big part this year.

Southampton look solid this season and have no real reason to be concerned that they may underperform. They should comfortably end up mid-table, with a decent shot to break into the top half if all goes as planned.