This week in The Radar, Nick Wright examines Manchester United's defensive frailty ahead of their trip to Liverpool and argues that Dejan Kulusevski is underrated. Plus: Roberto De Zerbi's revolutionary rotation and praise for Bournemouth's Andoni Iraola
Wednesday 31 January 2024 22:54, UK
Sunday's trip to Liverpool is a daunting prospect for Manchester United. Especially as the wounded team they take to Anfield will likely be even weaker than the one beaten 7-0 there last season.
Jurgen Klopp's side painfully highlighted United's inability to defend transitions that afternoon in March and Saturday's defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford showed the weakness remains.
Two of Bournemouth's goals came from transitions, the first after Lewis Cook intercepted a pass by Bruno Fernandes; the third after Illia Zabarnyi pounced on a loose ball by Luke Shaw. In between, Dominic Solanke hit the post from another such opportunity.
It was a reminder that, if anything, it has become an even bigger problem since that last visit to Anfield, not least because of the frequency with which Manchester United are now giving their opponents these chances.
According to Opta, Erik ten Hag's side have allowed the third-most transition opportunities in the Premier League this season. They have also allowed the third-most shots from those opportunities.
The numbers betray alarming levels of vulnerability and defensive openness and the same issues can be seen in relation to how Manchester United press their opponents.
Ten Hag has sought to maximise his side's own threat from transitions this season by pressing high up the pitch. As a result, Manchester United have succeeded in forcing more high turnovers, and more high turnovers leading to shots, than any other side.
In a sense, then, it is working. The problem is that when it doesn't work, when their opponent is able to navigate a way through that initial press, they invariably find huge open spaces to drive into, either side of an exposed and overworked holding midfielder.
It is as much an issue of structure as personnel. Sofyan Ambrabat has struggled but so did Casemiro. So would anyone, in fact, as long as Manchester United remain so bewilderingly disjointed.
Bournemouth, the side with the most goals from transitions in the Premier League this season, were set up to capitalise.
They will not be the only ones, either. Next on the list for goals from transitions? Liverpool. Manchester United's following two opponents, West Ham and Aston Villa, are also in the top five.
It is a weakness which may ultimately do for Ten Hag.
Dejan Kulusevski's excellent performance in Tottenham's 4-1 thrashing of Newcastle on Sunday was somewhat lost in the plaudits for Heung-Min Son and Richarlison. The Swede is probably used to it by now. Few players are more underrated.
He did not register any goals or assists in the game. His numbers are modest in that regard. But watching him from the press box at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium underlined his value to the side.
He was everywhere, starting in the No 10 position but drifting to the left to help outnumber Kieran Trippier at times, and popping up on the right to dovetail with Brennan Johnson at others. No player had more touches in the opposition box. When it was needed, he even dropped back into his own defensive third.
It was a typically industrious display from a player whose work-rate is unmatched. According to Premier League tracking data, Kulusevski ran nearly 13km over the course of the game. He has covered more ground than anyone else in the division this season.
He is a hard player to define, in part because he is so unusual; tall, broad-shouldered, intensely physical in the way he drives with the ball, and yet also highly intelligent in his movement, technically sound and capable of subtlety as well as brute force.
He does not necessarily look like a playmaker but he is one.
Against Newcastle, he created five scoring chances, the most by anyone on the pitch. In fact, he has created more open-play chances than any other player in the Premier League this season.
If there can be one criticism, it is that he does not score enough goals. But the fact he only has one assist this season, from an expected total of 3.28, has more to do with his team-mates.
Perhaps they could have helped him more in that regard. But what is certain is that the selfless Kulusevski will continue doing everything he can to help them. Even if the plaudits are slow to follow.
Arsenal's meeting with Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday pits a manager who has mooted the possibility of rotating his goalkeepers against one who is actually doing it. Aaron Ramsdale would be better off playing for Roberto De Zerbi right now.
Brighton duo Jason Steele and Bart Verbruggen have played a roughly even split of minutes across all competitions this season, with neither starting more than three consecutive games.
It is part of an exhaustive rotation policy being employed by their head coach to keep his players fresh as Brighton seek to manage the extra load of Europa League football.
In addition to making the most substitutions in the Premier League this season, with 76, Brighton have made 67 changes to their starting line-up. It is 23 more than any other side in the division and only 12 fewer than they made in the whole of last term.
The extent of the rotation is unprecedented in Premier League history. Brighton's average of 4.2 line-up changes per game puts them well clear of any other side and on course for a record total.
But is it working?
Supporters are largely unconvinced when it comes to the goalkeepers, with Brighton one of only two sides, along with Luton, yet to keep a clean sheet in the Premier League this season.
On the face of it, the approach does not appear to have reduced injuries either. Brighton have a string of players sidelined, including Pervis Estupinan, Solly March, Ansu Fati and Danny Welbeck. Others, such as James Milner and Adam Webster, have also missed spells.
But De Zerbi, a manager described by Pep Guardiola as one of the most influential of the last 20 years, has earned the right to be trusted and it is worth zooming out to look at the bigger picture.
While Manchester United and Newcastle hopelessly failed to manage their European commitments this season, finishing bottom of Champions League groups A and F respectively, Brighton flew into the Europa League knockouts with a game to spare.
Meanwhile, in the Premier League, they sit eighth, two places below last year's finishing position but level on points with Eddie Howe's side and only one behind Ten Hag's. De Zerbi's side are actually taking more points per game (1.63) than they did last season (1.43).
It is quite a feat in the context of competing in Europe for the first time in the club's history and the hope for De Zerbi is that the true benefits will come later in the season, when heavier workloads typically begin to take a toll and performances suffer.
The Italian's transformation of Brighton's playing style has already redefined what is possible for the Premier League's mid-ranking teams. Now, he appears to be revolutionising the art of rotation too.
It is coming up to two months since Wolves boss Gary O'Neil eviscerated the tactical set-up of Andoni Iraola, his successor at Bournemouth, in fascinating detail on Monday Night Football.
It was a unique insight into the work that goes into games at Premier League level behind the scenes and, understandably, given the nature of his dismissal, it was delivered with some relish.
At the time, Bournemouth were second from bottom, seven places below O'Neil's new side, having taken only three points from Iraola's first nine games in charge. The pressure on him must have felt particularly intense in the aftermath.
It is to his credit, then, and indicative of why Bournemouth made the change in the first place, that Iraola's team have managed to recover so impressively, winning five of their subsequent seven games, the latest coming in exhilarating style at Old Trafford.
As the same time as pulling away from the drop zone, they have moved level on points with Wolves. At home to Luton on Saturday, Iraola might quietly enjoy the opportunity to move above them.
