The Tactics Show: Meltdown Mode

*Apologies for the dodgy audio on this week's episode* #1059 | Ed, Dharnish, and Daniel open in meltdown mode. Manchester United have two wins from nine and the latest crisis is the fallout from Lisandro Martinez’ criticism of Jason Wilcox. The tactics tell the story. United conceded after 50 seconds at Atletico with five players in one zone and nobody closing down. They had used a 4-4-2 mid-block against Spurs and were pulled apart anyway. The diagnosis is a team caught between pressing high, sitting deep, and dominating the ball. Masters of none. From there, we work through questions around Yoro, Maguire, Martinez and De Ligt at centre-back. Then there’s Leeds’s 3-5-2 to deal with at the weekend and what Como will ask of United next week. 0:00 Meltdown mode 1:35 Pressing problem vs Atlético 5:24 High press or mid-block? 7:51 Spurs: the 4-4-2 falls apart 9:58 Squad building and Carrick’s vision 14:57 Centre-back questions: Yoro, Maguire, De Ligt 18:29 Ball dominance isn’t working 25:00 Predicted XI vs Leeds Sponsor Ready to have an AI that can tackle real work? Try Claude Cowork today. Claude.ai/NQAT Hate the ads? Want more NQAT? For ad-free listening and our weekly bonus show, find us on Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Socials Twitter - https://x.com/nqatpod Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nqatpod/ BlueSky - https://bsky.app/profile/nqatpod.bsky.social Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/c/nqatpod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices