An amazing statistic says it all… or most of it!

Top CandH blogger RICH SPRENT looks at why it all went so wrong at Old Trafford

The lessons were all there on Sunday and yet they didn’t sink in.

The line-up looked strong however but  to play in a similar shape to Sunday was puzzling. Feghouli has not played anything other than a brief cameo role and he’s a right winger yet was played at inside right next to a still uncomfortable wing back in Antonio.

Obiang – Fernandes – Payet accomplished the highest amount of successful passes in the game for the starting Hammers. Lanzini came on and completed 97% of his passes. This is required against any top side but especially one that presses so hard all over the pitch. Possession is vital.

It allows the space to be exploited behind the pressing opposition. It allows players to move up the pitch and to relieve the pressure as punts from deep upfield tend to be recycled by the opposition.

So what went wrong?

Let me give you an amazing statistic:

The Irons managed a mere NINE successful tackles during the 90 minutes. Nine… and only THREE in the second 45 minutes. Manchester United completed 25 tackles with only 14 per cent more possession.

A less amazing statistic of late is that we accomplished a paltry TWO shots on target. Both led to the single goal being scored. Payet’s drive and Fletcher being on hand to put it home.

We had six shots in total.

I am wholly confused what the team were sent out and expected to do. We started with Antonio at right wing back. He did not have a good game. When he gets the chance to sprint with the ball he’s like a dog let off the leash. He has the ability to thoroughly scare any defender and yet we continue to shackle him to defensive duties for which he is clearly unsuited.

In front of him was Feghouli who comes in for a lot of fan criticism. He looks unfit, off the pace and bewildered as to his role in the team. He showed glimpses of what he is about when released as a more conventional right winger in the closing stages.

That he fluffed his lines with two very good opportunities failing to even test the keeper shows he is another player out of form and well off the pace to the English game.

Payet didn’t have a great game. He was simply not on the ball enough. His shot allowed Fletcher to slot home but did very little else of note. When in possession he had poor support off the ball from his teammates.

For all their good ability when in possession with the ball, Fernandes and Obiang were decidedly less than average in helping their teammates off the ball. With Antonio looking very shaky in possession it was hardly surprising that we again created so little.

Our back line, arguably, was strengthened with Reid coming in. Yet the overall team shape was all wrong, again. You can offer up as many individual player scapegoats per game as you like but for me the team was sent out to battle in a cavalier and seemingly unprepared manner.

They took to the field to play in the shape that should allow players in possession to have options to pass  without being outnumbered; to be able to defend as a unit; and to allow the gifted players to be able to do their thing in equal measure.

Only Manchester United weren’t playing in a cavalier manner. They pressed.

They forced errors from Antonio. They forced Payet to fail with 30 per cent of his passes. They rendered Bilic’s version of a balanced shape toothless as the players were time and time again pushed deep and overwhelmed in a storm of pressure.

And that’s the problem for me. Just because the shape looks balanced doesn’t mean it is. An unfit Feghouli in an unfamiliar role? Antonio continues in a depressingly more and more familiar role that is unsuited to him. He is a right winger.

Why are we continually hindering ourselves by shackling one of our best outlets?

The midfield lacked a leader. They failed to win the ball back. When in possession, they failed to hurt the home side. The three at the back had waves of red shirts coming at them. They were not adequately protected by the other eight players in front of them.

Ashley Fletcher scored a good goal. He was offered very little in terms of support during the game. Payet and Feghouli were the other two forwards. They each played like individuals rather than a cohesive unit playing a quarter final against a top six Premier League side.

If this is a case of the players failing to do the job set out for them then I’d be amazed. I cannot see what they are being sent out to do other than ‘play some football’. It appears to be idealism at its very worst.

At the end of the day it was a cup game. The defeat should not hurt whatever the current league ambitions are at the club.

Whether conceding another four goals will have psychological affects on the players remains to be seen. I maintain that anything less than us sitting on 26pts on January 3rd will have been an abject failure. The players had better get their heads straight or there could be some very big changes in January.

We have a home game on Saturday against a side, Arsenal, who will play in an idealistic and cavalier manner. They happen to be very good at it and can punish any team at anytime. We need to be on top of whatever our game is. I don’t expect a lot of tactics to come into it.

I am sure the purists will be happy.

The view expressed here are solely those of the blogger and are not necessarily held by ClaretandHugh.  

Stats interpreted from BBC website and @WHU_stats