From the off, United's approach was clear, this game was going to be build on 2nd phases & transitions. United went long, but the target wasn't to win the first ball, it was to control the second.

Direct balls were regularly sent into VVD's side & Mbeumo would initiate, but not with the intention of winning the 1st contact. His intentions were to use his body to unbalance VVD, which would in turn stop well directed headers, whilst also pulling VVD out of the back line.

And behind that duel, United were well set up to land on the 2nd balls. By unbalancing VVD, Mbeumo could almost guarantee that the headers would go directly back into midfield. United then outnumbered Liverpool in the 2nd phase & would attempt to create quick transitions.

A clever method of overloading these zones were to use Shaw or De Ligt to step up quickly once the long ball had been played, ensuring United had an extra body in there to win the 2nd ball. And if Liverpool won the 2nd ball, United could press quickly with shorter distances.

Now there's 2 reasons I believe that United went more direct into Liverpool's left side. Firstly, VVD is poor at sprint recoveries meaning United could exploit his space in quick transitions, but also because Kerkez's positioning is so aggressive.

In the second half, we seen a different way in which Amorim would overload the 2nd phase zones. Mount would drop deeper & one of the wing backs would tuck inside, again creating a close connection of United players.

Now United's change of shape out of possession was evident, they opted for a deeper 5-4-1 block (oppose to the normal 5-2-3) and I believe there's 3 good reasons for this.

Firstly, it make it more difficult for Liverpool to create wide overloads. Mbeumo was much more connected to Amad & Mount was much more connected to Dalot, meaning Liverpool couldn't create 2v1's so easily.

Secondly, it allowed Mbeumo and Mount to be much more connected to the midfield two, which made it difficult for Liverpool to find their creative players between the lines, namely Mac Allister and Szoboszlai. Short distances in the block make it more difficult to penetrate.

Lastly, it baited Liverpool's full backs into adopting higher positions to try & overload spaces. By doing so, United knew that Mbeumo & Mount would pose a greater threat in transitions because Van Dijk/Konate would have to fill in and cover the wider zones.

Thanks for reading, I hope the graphics made it much easier to visualise my theory.

@thetacticsguy @threadreaderapp

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