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Ander Herrera vs Eden Hazard. A lesson in man marking. A thread.
When United played Chelsea at Old Trafford in the 2016-17 season, Hazard was playing a special football. Every goal the Chelsea team scored, would somehow have a genesis with Hazard being involved.
This meant that Jose needed to work a plan specifically for Hazard. What he came up with was a unique system that the Premier League had not often witnessed. Man marking.
Usually a man marking system is witnessed in zones throughout modern football. A player is marked when he enters a defender's zone & is left alone when he leaves the zone. This enables the defending team to not lose shape & yet maintain accountability.
However, Jose instructed the industrious Ander Herrera to follow Hazard all over the pitch. This meant that Herrera was to leave his designated position even if it meant leaving open spaces behind. Now naturally this system leaves a lot of glaring loopholes.
Let's look at them one by one. Herrera played as a Right Back. This was an ideal starting positions since Hazard would usually play as a left sided inverted winger. He would often leave the wing & stay in the space between the RB & RCB.
Herrera would stick to Hazard and move with him whenever he abandoned the wing and moved centrally. But wouldn't this leave the Right wing exposed for the Chelsea LB to exploit ? Here was where the tireless Valencia came in.
When Hazard would move from his wing, Valencia would move into an Auxiliary RB position to make up for Herrera. Fellaini would play as a wide midfielder to avoid an overload & Rashford would occupy the left wing to ensure that the Chelsea LB was vary or being caught on the break.
Almost 35 minutes in,Conte encouraged Hazard to roam, to try & make Herrera not move with him. Hazard would switch wings in the hope that Herrera wouldn't move with him. But the idea was simple. Follow Hazard at all costs. If he went next to his own GK, Herrera was to go with him
Herrera was immaculate. The marking was not to just put a player on Hazard but to ensure that he has the least number of touches. Whenever he did have any, he shouldn't be allowed to face the goal. The idea was to make him to not use his creativity in the attacking third.
However, there were going to be times when Herrera would not be around Hazard. Occassions like second phases after corners, set pieces. Or sometimes being caught out of position during second balls. Jose acknowledged this problem.
The solution was that if Herrera was caught out of position, the nearest defensive players were to close down Hazard and Herrera would fill in to the place vacated by the defensive player till the ball was moved to safety.
This worked in large parts because the right side of the Manchester defense was drilled to perfection. The RCB(Baily) would usually be facing the positions mentioned in the above tweet & Herrera and Baily were always in perfect harmony.
Amidst this, there was a question of what Herrera would do while United had the ball. The dilemma was that while defending Chelsea moved into a 4-4-1-1 with Hazard playing slightly more centrally
Play Herrera as a mid and you lose out on a passing option to the RB in the 1st third. Play him as an RB & Herrera lands up far away from Hazard in case United lose the ball and Hazard would run amock during United's defensive transition.
So, Herrera played as an inside RB. He would occupy the space similar to an inverted FB. But he would occupy this place only when the ball was on the left side of the pitch or in the attacking 3rd. This helped him stay close to Hazard for fear of being caught in Transitions
Once the ball was moved to the right, he would occupy the normal RB position & thus help in maintain numbers on the wings. Needless to say he never dared overlapping or trying to help in attacks
Herrera had an otherwise fantastic game as well. He was involved in both the goals United scored with an assist in the 1st goal & scoring the 2nd. Herrera is the classic hardworking engine that any top side needs. His tactical adaptability makes him a unique asset
Jose is respected world over as a fantastic coach & strategist. One thing he isn't credited for is his bravery. On countless occasions Jose has come up with unique yet risky ideas to counter opposition threats. Some work. Some don't. This one most definitely did
