Premier League: Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur - A tactical preview
With almost a quarter of the English Premier League season played, Manchester United host Tottenham Hotspur in a crucial tie at Old Trafford on Saturday. United who have not been playing to their best this season, find themselves
in 3rd position. Their opponents on the day, Tottenham, are currently 2 places behind in 5th.
It has been a fairly dramatic week at Old Trafford. This time, last week, it appeared that Wayne Rooney had fallen out of love with Manchester United and wanted to continue his career elsewhere. But the very next day, he signed
a new 5 year deal with the Red Devils; however, Rooney is still out injured and will miss his side’s home match against Spurs.
United scooped what looked and felt like a crucial 2-1 victory against Stoke City last weekend. Both goals for United came from the young Mexican striker Javier Hernandez; he is filling the Rooney hole pretty well at the moment.
One reason for his success has been the great understanding and combination with his strike partner, Dimitar Berbatov. Berbatov tends to come in deep, pick up the ball, and bring others into play, whereas Hernandez likes to run off the defenders. He is quick
and always looking to break the backline of the opposition, as he did against Stoke City on Sunday. The little striker’s off-the-ball movement and lightning pace can cause havoc in any team’s defence.
In terms of the supply line to the forwards, Nani has been in sensational form this season. The Portuguese star can play on either side of the wings and cause trouble to Tottenham’s full backs, Benoit Assou-Ekotto and Alan Hutton.
With Antonio Valencia out due to injury, Park Ji-Sung can start for the Red Devils on the left hand side, with Nani expected to attack from the right.
Tottenham however, have got a huge threat of their own while going forward from the left hand side, in the shape of Gareth Bale. Bale stole the show by scoring a brilliant hat-trick at San Siro against Inter Milan, in Spurs’ last
match in the UEFA Champions League.
Given the attacking threat posed by the Welshman, Sir Alex Ferguson has to carefully decide when choosing his right-back for the match. The United manager has a host of options to select for the defensive position with players
like Gary Neville, John O’Shea, Wes Brown and Rafael Da Silva - all being able to fill in at right-back. However, Rafael is the only player who can match the pace of Gareth Bale. Although, he has not been on top of his game this season, the young Brazilian
is a good one-on-one defender and can cope with the quickness of Tottenham’s wingers.
Manchester United will be playing a 4-4-2 formation, with Hernandez and Berbatov leading the attack. Tottenham however, will form a conventional 4-5-1 formation and will convert to 4-3-3 when they have possession.
The game will be played at a high tempo, and the Red Devils will be on the offensive from the outset. An early United goal not only will help calm the player’s nerves, but will also get the home crowd going.
Manchester United’s probable starting 11: Van der Saar, Rafael Da Silva, Nemanja Vidic, Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra, Nani, Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher, Park Ji-Sung, Dimitar Berbatov, Javier Hernandez.
Tottenham Hotspur’s probable starting 11: Heurelho Gomes, Benoit Assou-Ekotto, William Gallas, Younes Kaboul, Alan Hutton, Rafael van der Vaart, Gareth Bale, Tom Huddlestone, Luka Modric, Aaron
Lennon, Peter Crouch.
Tags: