Manchester United mistakes vs Borussia Dortmund (2-3) | Tactical Analysis

In all the pre-seasons we see a game with a lot of mistakes and that’s what happened to Manchester United in the defeat against Borussia Dortmund. We start with the first goal of the Germans. Dalot is the one who makes the mistake, the ball is inside the box and Dalot decides to take 2 steps back to try to block the shot, leaving Malén unmarked, who scores the goal.

In Dortmund’s second there is a typical error of the first months of the season, United taking risks in the build-up, Lindelöf playing under pressure tries a vertical pass without vision, producing the loss and the goal.

And now we are going to analyze 2 identical plays that take place in the second part but with different players. This one begins with a recovery by Borussia Dortmund in the opponents half and Scott McTominay is the player in charge of defending the play. He has 2 good solutions, jump on the ball holder, Julian Brandt, with a good anticipation before Brandt starts driving or blocking the passing line between the 2 Dortmund players who make the transition so that Brandt can neither finish nor assist. McTominay’s decision is to retreat, leaving Brandt time and space to drive and pass, although the play did’t end in a goal.

Exactly the same happens in the decisive goal, in this case with Jonny Evans. First, a bad pass from Wan Bissaka to Casemiro that 2 Borussia Dortmund players can intercept and from there Jonny Evans falls into several mistakes. He moves too deep in the box when he has Lisandro Martínez behind with no progressive pass available, giving time to several Dortmund players to join the attacking transition.

In the box he’s body shape is bad, losing the ball-orientation, not knowing who to defend. And another mistake in Moukoko’s run into the box, it’s Luke Shaw who tries to change direction to anticipate the Dortmund striker but is too slow, losing the duel, scoring Moukoko the winning goal.

Erik ten Hag has work to do in the build-up with the signing of Onana and in the defensive line to become a more aggressive and reliable team to fight for the Premier League.