Manchester United managed to get three points at Vicarage Road in a 2-1 win and here are some interesting things we can derive from the match using stats and analysis.
The Reversed Imbalance
Last season, we often talked about Manchester United not being balanced properly. It was not so much so about the imbalance of attack vs defence, but it was rather about the left vs right. On the left, Manchester United lack natural width. Ashley Young was the primary left-back and he often had the habit of turning too much inwards, negating the width in that part of defence and especially when he was supposed to attack. Also, there was the trident of Alexis Sanchez/Anthony Martial/Marcus Rashford and they are all natural right-footed players who drift inwards as inside forwards.
So, the width was really missing on that side of the pitch. And then Ashley Young’s performance against Watford showed that he can do it the other way too. Only the three Manchester United central midfielders had more touches than Young, but the left-back’s time spent with the ball was spent all the way down the line, on both ends of the pitch. Young was not tempted too often to go the middle of the pitch and looked composed with it in wide areas. At certain points in the match, it even looked that Valencia and Young switched the ‘roles’ they played last season, as the left-back was the one more often going forwards and helping in attacks.
Pogba’s Shot Map
Paul Pogba made five shots against Watford, which showed how much he was involved in everything United did on Saturday. But if you analyse them a little bit, four of them were tough chances for him to actually score. The one from close range just before half-time, set up by Lingard, was the only one that was a really good chance and Pogba probably should have scored. One of his shots was after a corner kick, so the probability of him scoring was expectedly lower.
However, his three shots from outside of the area were not justified. Sure, a player should shoot from distance here and there when the opportunity arises. But not always. Excluding penalties, Pogba’s expected goals per shot amounts to just 0.076, which nicely illustrates that his decision-making of when to shoot could improve. Overall, it was a very positive performance from the Frenchman.
Fellaini’s Usefulness
Marouane Fellaini had an assist in this match, but his usefulness was obvious in many other aspects. He was amongst the players that had the most of the ball in this match and he was pretty good with it at his feet. He made 65 successful passes, 54 of them being forward passes – therefore, he was not just squaring them sideways.
Defensively, he made five clearances, one interception, three tackles and won seven aerial duels. Maybe Watford are not exactly the team where United should be the most scared and Fellaini got his chance in starting XI, but that does not mean his display should not be taken into consideration because of that.
Mourinho used him wisely against an realistically weaker opponent, playing to his strengths once again.
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