Erik ten Hag has been setting Manchester United up in a 433 shape to start off the games strong. He sets up the side on the front foot to get at the opposition, maintaining a relatively high line in order to counter-press effectively. This has been successful in the club’s last four league matches, picking up all 12 points available after a shaky opening two matches.
However, when defending a lead, ten Hag has looked to use players from his bench such as Fred and Casemiro to keep this lead, this is where he changes to a 442 both in and out of possession. Having such options allow for flexibility, Fred is an engine who has enough energy to constantly apply pressure, whilst Casemiro’s strong defensive awareness often means that he finds himself in the correct position to intercept the ball.
ten Hag has appeared to bring on the Brazilian duo for two of his forwards (Rashford & Elanga vs Leicester City and Sancho & Rashford vs Arsenal, and has looked to push Bruno Fernandes and Eriksen higher up the pitch. Bruno often pushes up in a wide forward role whilst Eriksen takes the central 10 position. Casemiro plays in the deepest midfield role with Fred and McTominay on either side of him.
On the left we can see the average positions of the starting players against Arsenal. It’s easy to see the distinct 433 shape that ten Hag set out, utilising the width of the pitch in offensive and defensive scenarios.
On the right we can see the change to a 442 once the substitutes came on. Casemiro was sitting in a much deeper role behind McTominay, Eriksen and Bruno were ahead of him while Fred was operating down the left side of the pitch (#17). Ronaldo looked to be very central and was playing alongside Fernandes at times.
This change to a 442 mid-block prevented Arsenal from finding easy line-breakers which they would’ve been able to do so before. The substitutes also provided a boost in energy, especially with Fred’s appearance and his intensity nearly led to United scoring a 4th. This setup also had the correct balance in width, it wasn’t wide enough to allow Arsenal to play through the middle, but also not narrow enough so Arsenal could create overloads out wide.
Arsenal struggled heavily once United switched to this tactical setup to see out the rest of the game, hence proving its effectiveness. It looks likely that ten Hag will continue to see matches out in this style due to the 5-sub rule this season, fully utilising the entirety of his squad.
