That backheel he did yesterday was one of the most significant moments of the game for me. That and another backheel/lay-off Mason Mount did in the first half, around the halfway line, that Casemiro ran onto.
In and of themselves they may seem insignificant, but those two moments immediately caught my eye as they are the EXACT sort of play I have seen our team to be lacking for years, and what holds us back from being a top team. What happened in those moments was a simple but beautiful usage of space to progress. Both passes were played first time, round an opponent, into space that was not presently occupied, but one of our players was moving into. Sounds so simple, but the main reason we struggle to break teams down is this poor movement and manipulation of space IMO. Players passing first time and constant moving into vacant space (ahead of you) to receive the ball. Our possession in midfield is usually slower, pass, stop, pass again and often to a static recipient. You can’t pull teams about by doing this.
The penetration we tend to seek are longer balls down the side/over top for speed of Rashford to try and catch, or for Rashford himself to physically carry the ball 20/30 yards.
For me, I think there are a lot of parallels in terms of breaking down opponents and using space between football and good rugby. The way rugby players have to pass backwards (sideways) and a teammate has to run on to the ball in order to advance. It requires constant motion from the players, and the constant moving into space. Every player receiving the ball was not in the place they received it one second before. All sounds so simple, but for me, the difference between the football we play and the football played by City, Arsenal, Brighton. The off the ball movement and utilisation of space is so many levels below, and we should be using 5 yards of space to beat a man/break a line more often. It’s the concept of a simple one-two in football I guess, with the second pass being picked up on the run.
Very long-winded I know, but it immediately caught my attention (like that Di Calprio pointing meme fro Wolf of Wall Street when he points and goes ‘there’). If we can do that more often, we’ll go up a level or two, and create many more chances.
On topic, I think this is why VDB excelled at Ajax and not here. They played that All Blacks type of football which he thrives in. With our football, we want 10s to have ‘vision’ and play killer passes splitting defences, and he doesn’t have that. But in a team that plays quick, one-touch short passes - he can be useful as he does those passes well, and he also moves into space brilliantly off the ball. Those are his biggest strengths - short, sharp passes, movement, and finishing. That has never been the football we play, and he lacks the tools to play a longer game. He’s a rondo sort of player.
