'Monster' Mourinho

(Baonghean.vn) -In the history of the prestigious tournamentPremier League, no coach has as many defeated players as Mourinho.

While all of Europe is praising Antonio Conte's famous 3-4-3 formation, with Hazard being hailed as one of the best attacking players today, Mourinho has poured cold water on Chelsea.

Mourinho won with a tactical scheme that people only figured out 24 hours after the match. Simply because he is special, MU has such a special style of play. Remember, the defeated Chelsea team has won 21 of the last 25 matches in the Premier League.

Unpredictable changes

Looking at MU's starting lineup, football commentators were shocked. If Mourinho did not use Juan Mata due to injury, then no one would have thought that Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who were in good form, would be sitting out. MU played with a strange lineup, but operated with an even stranger tactic.

Ander Herrera was the best player in the match between MU and Chelsea. He assisted and scored to help the "Red Devils" Manchester win 2-0. Photo: Internet

In theory, it was thought that MU would use a 3-5-2 formation to counter Conte's 3-4-3 formation with 3 central defenders Darmian, Rojo, E. Bailly, and 2 young players J. Lingard and Rashford as attackers. But when it was put into operation, it turned into 2-4-2-2:

Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo shielded De Gea, Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young were the full-backs, Fellaini and Pogba drifted up and down the centre to contain Kante, while Darmian and Herrera roamed freely to keep Pedro and Eden Hazard at bay. Up front, Lingard and Rashford were always ready to press and waiting to make quick, dramatic runs.

If Ibrahimovic enters the field, the ball will be concentrated on the Swedish striker. He is strong in the ability to press, shoot or create walls but weak in the ability to race for speed, slowing down the Red Devils' attacking tempo.

Against the physically fit duo of Gary Cahill and David Luiz, Ibrahimovic will certainly have a hard time doing anything, but a young and agile Rashford is different. Rashford often confuses Chelsea's defense with his smart runs and dangerous crosses.

This is a flexible, calculating and Mourinho-esque squad, perhaps formed right after the 0-4 defeat at the beginning of the season. The key is that he decided to take advantage of Rashford's youth, assigning Herrera to play "1 on 1" with Eden Hazard to the point that people had to exclaim: "If Hazard went to the toilet, Herrera would probably follow."

It was not that the Italian coach stood still and took the blow. In fact, throughout the 90 minutes, Chelsea tried every way to organize communication between the trio of Hazard, Pedro and Costa, who were isolated and completely cut off by the MU midfield. But they were only accurate in 79% of their passes, created only 3 meager chances and did not have a single shot on target.

MU did not need to deploy ugly, pragmatic football and even committed fewer fouls, only 16, compared to Chelsea's 20. At Old Trafford, MU players created 7 opportunities, had more and more effective shots (3/9 on target, scored 2 goals), and also had superior passes in the opponent's third.

The psychologist

Coach Conte stood still, stroking his chin throughout the match. Photo: Internet

Not only is Mourinho a genius at building a strategy for a big match, he is also a master at using people. He has inspired Rashford, Lingard, Young and Fellaini to become warriors at Old Trafford.

Mourinho took a risk by playing Ashley Young on the left flank, along with Valencia, to help the Red Devils' wings become more balanced. In particular, Young was given the captain's armband by Mourinho in a big match, causing him to play like a trance, leaving Moses and Pedro "out of power".

With the wingers named Young and Valencia attacking and defending in sync, Chelsea's wingers did not dare to go up high because they were always in a state of dealing with the dangers that were always present behind.

In the FA Cup quarter-final, Herrera had been marking Hazard closely but his over-enthusiasm cost him a red card. Learning from his previous experience, Mourinho showed Herrera how to play smarter to lock down Hazard.

It must be admitted that the visiting team Chelsea was unlucky to lose goalkeeper Courtois and Marcos Alonso right at the start of the match, but it must be admitted that coach Jose Mourinho arranged the game very well, creating big surprises for the opponent, helping Man United dominate the game right from the start.

AT