Manchester United faced Real Sociedad and got a draw (1-1) for the 2nd leg, next week at Manchester.

At a first glance, a good result.

Without a doubt.

But, looking at the performance, there were a couple of things that came to my mind: it’s clear why and how The Premier League intends to dominate the European market in the coming years, and in the middle of darkness that results, performances and injuries brought in these months, Ruben Amorim is doing some miracles and installing his system correctly.

There are brighter lights, although still very sporadic and irregular, being presented.

The team, with all the rollercoaster attached, is getting things clearly.

The first point about The Premier League is clear to me – physically the League sets the benchmark really high. 

One that when United goes to play at European Competitions the difference is immense.

We can see Højlund getting advantage of his physical skills, duels being won consistently, players with a rhythm that some opponents cannot keep up with, etc.

A complete opposition from what we see in the League matches.

Tremendous difference here, and the other Leagues have a real challenge ahead because if there’s one League that can monetize and get higher revenues, it’s Premier League. 

And, with that, will create a system where, if nothing changes this difference will be greater and greater with time.

Except for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid FC.

Clearly.

Those are still unique brands that can attract enough talent (and money) to face all challenges on the field, either tactical, physical or others.

The data somehow helps us to understand this, with a clear shift of mentality here, specially on the English teams, now more interested in European Competitions than the sole-focus on their local League.

In the last 10 Editions of European Competitions – Champions League, Europa League and, more recently, Conference League – we had winners from Greece (1), Italy (2), Germany (2), England (6) and Spain (12).

Clear dominance from Spain, with more wins than all the other countries together.

However, if we only take the last 5 Editions, we have Greece (1), Germany (2), Italy (2), England (3) and Spain (5).

Now, by simply analyzing this data, we can understand that although Spain is still winning more – with Real Madrid FC and Sevilla FC contributing for 9 of those 12 titles, or 4 of the 5 titles more recently – but we can see that Germany and Italy are clearly getting stronger and that English teams seem to be more interested in European Competitions (ie. at the Champions League English got 2 wins, Spain 2 and Germany 1 in the last 5 Editions).

Is it fair to understand things this way?

Secondly, getting back to United’s recent performances, despite having consistently 10 or more players out, some of those clearly starting XI options (from yesterday alone, we can name Martinez, Amad, Mainoo, along with Ugarte and Maguire), there are some brighter lights shining, at times.

Still, at times.

Examples?

. Yoro is improving and improving

. De Ligt is showing himself useful, despite the initial doubts he created by his performances, and understanding how to use his best abilities at this system (ie. Aerial duels)

. Casemiro is showing he can be an option, even if not starting. Amazing professional, character and attitude.

. Zirkzee understands the space and how to add value to the team’s Game.

. Dorgu, despite not having a great performance, adds great value to the team and, simultaneously, provides the standard where the signings need to be moving forward.

And these are only reflection from yesterday’s match.

Tactically, the defensive positioning in a GK+4+4+2, when the other team is starting the build-up, is still far from perfect, specially when the forward players decided to move around and taking other places, but the profiles were better match in general.

Having on the left Dorgu on the midfield line of 4 and Mazraoui as a left defender creates no disparity to their original roles and normal behaviors.

Similarly, on the right side, having Garnacho on the midfield line and Dalot as a right back is another no-brainer.

Simple, yet efficient.

When we start having Dalot at the midfield line and forcing Yoro on the right side, as a defender, things start to get confusing, at times.

Although the pressure wasn’t perfect, there are definitely improvements on the teams’ approach to the Games, even if those improvements mean to drop the lines and defend deeper, understanding the players qualities and abilities.

Who said Ruben is not adapting his system?
Clearly someone who doesn’t understand things.

Yes, the team lacks offensive quality.

Is undeniable.

The number of passes being done to the non-dominant foot or footballs received with their back to the goal their attacking are staggering.

Yes, all true.

Yes, also true these are details the average person or fan doesn’t care.

But these are the details that turn the Game fluid or not, and they are solely related to a simple thing: individual quality.

As final thoughts, just wanted to speak about 2 things:

. First, the goal conceded cannot happen.

Again.

Simply as that. 

Having a penalty from that situation cannot happen and Bruno, that just before got a yellow card for arguments with the referee and could get the 2nd one from that situation, knows better.

. Secondly, Garnacho is at a pedestal he doesn’t belong yet.

Yes, he’s a good young talent, I agree.

But the performances don’t match the pedestal.

As I mentioned before, I’ve seen a scarf before with the names of Cristiano Ronaldo – Rooney – Garnacho on it as “Club Legends”.

Non-sense.

We need to protect these players, young talented players.

Getting them at a pedestal to fast, to soon, creates expectations that then turn into behaviors (ie. as happened before, and yesterday, being substituted and not facing it positively) that aren’t good for themselves as for the team.

No one benefits from these.

It may not be entirely his fault, obviously, but we need to support him and show him a better path for the future.

The team keeps shooting themselves in their foot, definitely.

But I can see some brightness coming.

Can you see that too?

Also, what’s your thoughts on Sucic and Kobo?
Really liked them, potentially a good fit for Ruben’s United for the coming Season.

Would you agree?

Let’s discuss!

The data presented here is from sofascore website.