Man United travel to the Etihad this weekend to take on Manchester City in the Premier League and Ralf Rangnick’s side go into this game as the major underdogs.
United are playing some good football under their interim boss but they are failing to pick up wins. Man United have drawn four out of their previous six matches across all competitions and all these dropped points mean they are on the verge of falling out of the top four.
Man City, on the other hand, are sitting at the top of the table and going into this match, they hold a six-point lead ahead of Liverpool. City might have stumbled a bit in the previous few weeks but they still have a far superior side than their local rivals.
Under Ole, Man United had a surprisingly good result against their neighbours and according to Roy Keane, Rangnick should deploy the same tactics which the Norwegian had used.
“I’m looking forward to it, another test for City, they’ve been fantastic over recent years. But Man United, hopefully, they will turn up and do a job on them,” Keane told ITV, as quoted.
🥶 @Sanchooo10 Derby Prep 💪#MUFC pic.twitter.com/fOhdP2Ddpl
— UtdPlug (@UtdPlug) March 3, 2022
“The best thing for United is to be on the counter-attack, City will dominate possession like they always do but United on the counter-attack, they’ve been creating chances lately – not been taking them. But they’ll have to do that Sunday because they won’t get many.”
Is counter-attacking the best ploy for Man United?
The last time Man United went to Etihad was towards the end of last season and they came out as 2-0 winners thanks to this same counter-attacking tactic by Solskjaer.
In that match, United had only 34% possession but they created as many as three major changes. In fact in the last four Premier League meetings, Man United have lost only once to Pep Guardiola’s side and for most of these matches, United had deployed a counter-attacking style.
Ralf Rangnick has been urging his players to play a more attacking brand of football but he’s also a manager who is ready to adapt and change. Ole was really rigid with his tactics and team selection but Rangnick is not shy to make the big calls.
Scott McTominay’s game by numbers vs. Man City:
100% of passes forward
100% tackles won
2 ball recoveries
1 interception
1 goalYou simply love to see it. 🙌🙌🙌 pic.twitter.com/vk5UwXK5Jt
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) March 8, 2020
Rangnick promptly halted his high-pressing style just because the current Man United playing are not adept at pressing so there’s every reason to believe that he can ask his team to sit back and play on the counter on Sunday.
United have players like Jadon Sancho and Elanga who have rapid pace and can very easily play on the break but for this whole system to be functional, the defenders and the defensive midfielders need to win the ball a lot high up the pitch.
Manchester United need to win this if they wish to hold onto their fourth spot but if they can win at the Etihad then Manchester City’s lead will potentially be cut to only three points. This means the visitors will have a double incentive to win on Sunday.
