Man Utd need performance of the season to win the FA Cup – there are three things they must do to upset Man City

MANCHESTER UNITED face rivals City in the FA Cup final on Saturday with the champions looking to complete the domestic double.

Erik ten Hag, meanwhile, is hoping to end a miserable season with his second major trophy in two seasons. 

GettyManchester United have the chance to get revenge for last year’s FA Cup final defeat[/caption]

The TimesUnited face a tough task stopping City getting their hands on the trophy again[/caption]

City, under Pep Guardiola, have been one of the most consistent and dominant teams that we have seen in English football, maybe ever.

And despite securing the league title on the last day of the season, they will still be playing with a sense of something to prove having been knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

Since that shootout exit, we have seen City look truly impressive against domestic opposition although Tottenham should perhaps have taken something from their game. 

While City will come into this final in a good position with their star players available and in form, the same cannot be said of United.

Throughout the season Ten Hag has struggled to keep his squad fit with recurring injuries to key players in key positions, forcing players to play out of position.

This week has also caused unrest at United with the England coach Gareth Southgate naming his squad for Euro 2024 and leaving out Marcus Rashford, hardly the ideal preparation coming into this match.

There are, however, some positives for Red Devils fans.

From a tactical perspective, United actually have the capacity to cause City problems with their pace and willingness to be direct in terms of creating 1v1 opportunities in the wide areas.

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The issues for United, however, will come at the other end.

Ten Hag and his coaching staff are going to have to come up with some ideas to prevent City from maintaining constant possession and penetrating the final third and penalty area.

There are three key areas that United will need to address and conjure up a gameplan for if they are going to win the FA Cup final – which would also secure them a Europa League spot.

PRESSURISE RODRI

There can be little doubt that Rodri should have at the very least been in contention for the end-of-season awards.

He has been one of the very best players in the league over the course of the domestic and European season.

As the No6 at the base of the midfield in Pep Guardiola’s 4-3-3 system, the Spanish international plays a key role in ensuring City dominate the ball and force the opposition backwards.

The problem that teams have when they come up against a player in Rodri’s position who has his quality and ability on the ball is that he is extremely difficult to defend against.

If you try to get tight to him then you are effectively leaving space elsewhere that City can exploit and Rodri excels when receiving possession and playing on limited touches to move and progress the ball.

If you try to sit off him, however, and stay tight and compact in front of the ball as a defensive unit then you are inviting the Spaniard to find a way to outplay your defensive structure.

Here, we see Sheffield United sitting off of Rodri and allowing him time and space in possession of the ball – by giving Rodri this time and space in possession you are inviting him to find a longer pass and as Phil Foden makes a move to break the last line with an attacking run you see Rodri lift the ball over the top and into space

GettyWorking out when to put pressure on Rodri or sit back could be key to United’s hopes[/caption]

This is especially dangerous for opposition teams when combined with the movement and attacking intent that we see from Rodri’s more attack-minded team-mates.

So, how best can you defend against Rodri and what should United do this coming weekend to limit the effectiveness of City’s midfield general?

The key is not to play just one way against him.

You shouldn’t consistently sit off and give him time but nor should you press tight constantly.

The key is to do both but to understand how to vary your approach in order to keep him off guard.

Applying moments of pressure with intensity to Rodri can unbalance and disrupt City in possession but doing so consistently will just see City players find space elsewhere.

Choose your pressure triggers carefully and have players with energy, like Kobbie Mainoo and Bruno Fernandes, to dip in and out white applying pressure to the ball and you will develop a better overall strategy against the ball.

Rodri will without a doubt be one of the keys to the match for Manchester City and as such he needs to be stopped and dealt with effectively by the United midfield structure.

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A similar situation here as Newcastle sit deep and try to protect a lead – they effectively allow Rodri to have possession at the base of the final third and the Spaniard shows his ability in terms of breaking down the opposition – here, he finds the pass through the defensive line to release the runner on and into space

STOP PHIL FODEN

If Rodri was one of the best players in football over the course of the 2023-24 season then there is a very real prospect that Phil Foden was THE best over that time period.

The Stockport-born attacking player has developed into one of the key players for City having initially been used sparingly by Guardiola when he was a younger player.

Indeed, for a period of time there was a suggestion amongst fans and media alike that Guardiola’s handling of Foden was holding him back.

That suggestion has been well and truly put to bed now as Foden has developed into a generational talent.

He is exceptionally difficult to defend against because his role and position for City is so hard to define.

Whether he plays from the wide positions or more centrally as a No8 or even a No10, he still drifts across the final third and finds little pockets of space to receive the ball in from where he can hurt the opposition.

Foden’s initial positioning here is very clever – he has created separation from the West Ham defenders through smart movement to drop off and as he receives the ball he is intelligent enough to let the ball run across him to outplay the defender as they jump out to press. Foden then shows that he has developed into a deadly finisher

GettyPhil Foden has shone as the standout player of the season[/caption]

To stop Foden is going to take a team effort but in recent weeks on-loan midfielder and Moroccan international Soyfan Amrabat has been displaying the ability to defend spaces in the midfield.

Foden is so good on the turn and on his first touch, though, that the best way to stop him is by applying pressure further up and stopping him from getting on the ball.

While Foden has the ability and positional awareness to be able to find spaces between the lines to receive the ball, United will have to close these spaces by defending in a compact shape and making themselves difficult to break down.

Here, against United earlier in the season, Foden has managed to isolate himself 1v1 wide and when he receives he outplays the pressure on his first touch coming inside and scoring comfortably from range

Taking away the positions in the final third that Foden likes to receive the ball in will at least slow down, if not completely stop, Foden from being effective. 

CUT SERVICE TO HAALAND

It is staggering to think that the narrative across the season was that Erling Haaland was having a ‘poor’ season at points.

That poor season, however, still saw the Norwegian international forward score 38 goals in 44 games across all competitions.

This was despite some games in which he did have big misses.

The issue with a player like Haaland, though, is that when he is missing these chances he is still getting into good positions to score and he does not let a miss affect him.

Haaland is, of course, a huge threat in the area and his movement and ability to constantly keep himself alive and in space in the area is second to none.

He is also, however, a striker that can be deadly when he is allowed to run off the last defender to attack space between the defensive line and the goalkeeper.

GettyErling Haaland certainly knows where the back of the net is[/caption]

In this match against Wolves we see the deadly movement of Haaland before he scores a towering header at the far post – he drifts from the opposition central defender and makes a curved run to the far post before attacking the cross

Here, we see the danger that Haaland poses when he is playing on the last defender with space to attack behind the defensive line – a quick vertical pass and then a through ball releases the Norwegian with space to attack into

There is a chance for Manchester United that their Argentinean international Lisandro Martinez will be fit to start the match and despite his lack of height, in comparison to Haaland, he will be aggressive and competitive in defending against Haaland and preventing him from getting easy service into the area.

Similar to Foden in a way, the key to stopping these kinds of opportunities for Haaland may well be for United to squeeze the game and apply pressure higher up to stop City having easy possession.

That is very much easier said than done though.

CONCLUSION

If United are to beat their city rivals this weekend and lift the FA Cup, then they will need a performance that tops anything else that they have given so far this season.

City do, however, have key players and stopping them from being able to play their natural games should at least go some way to achieving this.