Crazy match. For a neutral, it was a wild 8-goal thriller with the score flipping back and forth, but for United fans, it was a roller coaster between heaven and hell. So many chances, just as many crises—we could've easily won, but we could've just as easily lost. Let’s dive straight into the madness.
Bournemouth usually runs a 4-2-3-1, but against teams that build up with a back three, they mostly switch to a hybrid 5-2-3. They drop one of the wingers and push the attacking mid up to lead the front line. Until last season, Dango Ouattara played the "defensive winger" role, and in this match, Jimenez took that on. It seems Iraola's intent is to match the opponent's numbers in both the front and back, applying heavy 1-on-1 pressure while ensuring they don't lose the numbers game.
Same thing today. They brought out the hybrid 5-2-3 against United, who usually transition from 3-4-2-1 to 3-2-5. However, while we know Bournemouth under Iraola for high-intensity pressing, their front-line pressure wasn't actually that intense in the first half.
Because of that, in the early first half, United was able to reach the box using their preferred patterns during the initial build-up sequence.
They were blocking passing lanes from the front, but since the intensity was low, United played through the middle comfortably. Especially with Heaven’s proactive attitude toward moving the ball, things were even smoother.
Bournemouth's RB jumps out because his man is Dalot, but Jimenez, being a winger, doesn't drop all the way to the backline. Today, Amorim had Bruno move up a notch so he wasn't on the same horizontal line as Casemiro, which ended up tying down two players to Bruno.
As the pass comes in, Tavernier sees Bruno's body language, predicts a play toward Casemiro, and jumps out early. On the right side, Diakhite follows Mount since Mount is his man in the hybrid 5-2-3.
The moment Tavernier jumps out, Bruno realizes there’s no pressure except from Adams, so he boldly lets the ball run through. Since Jimenez still hasn't joined the backline, he loses Amad during the counter. If United had kept Casemiro and Bruno flat, the opposition would've just locked them 1-on-1 and isolated them with double teams. But because they stood vertically, the markers were split, and a whole flank opened up based on Bruno’s positioning. From the perspective of the opponent's third line, they have to mark Bruno if he’s positioned high. Basically, the third line gets dragged toward Bruno, and because the front line's pressure is low, the press gets bypassed.
They’re still trying to press with three up front and two mids, but Bruno is pushed high and Cunha is dropping to fill the midfield numbers. Having been burned before, the opponent's third line gets stuck on Bruno and Cunha.
Even if you leave Casemiro somewhat free, it's not like his output is insane, but if you leave him *this* free, one passing option will always remain regardless of how the opponent tries to close down a side. Ideally, Kluivert should've marked both Casemiro and Heaven to trap the ball on United's right and force a long kick, but he doesn't seem to have that kind of ability, and they probably assumed the midfield would handle Casemiro anyway.
He keeps moving forward freely. No matter how slow Casemiro’s decision-making is, 5 seconds is more than enough for him.
"Fans are hype about 'God-morim's' tactics actually showing results, though some are trolling about the title sounding like a financial crisis or worrying that the team is 'cooked' with key players missing."
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