Newcastle expose Manchester United’s midfield problem

How Rafa Benitez and Newcastle exposed Manchester United’s midfield and Alexis Sanchez problem.

Rafa Benitez has made a habit of frustrating Jose Mourinho over the years. The latter still carries the mental scars from seeing his Chelsea teams beaten by Benitez-led Liverpool in two Champions League semi-finals in the mid-2000s.

Benitez proved he hasn’t lost the knack by engineering Newcastle’s brilliant 1-0 win over Mourinho’s Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday.

It continued a lengthy run of losing for Mourinho against the Spaniard, per OptaJoe:

The blueprint for Benitez’s latest triumph was to exploit two growing problems at United. Namely, an undermanned midfield too easy to outnumber in central areas, a problem in part created by the arrival of Alexis Sanchez.

Mourinho’s teams aren’t supposed to be easy to play against. But it’s just what United are becoming on the 55-year-old’s watch.

Specifically, United are getting swamped in central areas where the two-man pivot of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba is floundering. Both were hauled off by their manager during Sunday’s loss.

It was United’s second defeat in three matches, the second time they failed to score during the same run.

The first of those defeats was a 2-0 reversal against Tottenham at Wembley Stadium. There were alarming similarities between the Newcastle game and United’s misery in the English capital.

Both games saw the Reds leave chasms of space in the middle while Pogba and Matic were overrun. On each occasion, United lost the numbers game.

Spurs took it away from them by surrounding United’s two with Eric Dier, Mousa Dembele, Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli. Benitez and Newcastle did something similar.

Benitez played a 4-4-1-1 formation, with Chelsea loanee Kenedy on the left, goalscoring hero Matt Ritchie on the right and Jonjo Shelvey and Mohamed Diame in the middle.

Ritchie was more of an inverted winger than a natural wide player. He regularly tucked in to help Shelvey and Diame swarm on Pogba and Matic.

Numbers from Ritchie’s performance show how the attacking midfielder was just as important defensively as he was going forward, per Squawka Football:

The efforts of Ritchie, Diame and Shelvey were helped by Ayoze Perez, who played just behind lone striker Marcus Gayle.

Perez dropped into midfield when the Magpies weren’t in possession, adding another body to blank United’s midfield two.

It meant whenever Pogba or Matic was on the ball, they were immediately hounded and pressed. The instant pressure meant United were unable to build through the middle.

It also meant when Newcastle won the ball, they pinched it high up the pitch. It’s how and why the Magpies were able to fashion 10 chances from only 36 percent possession.

The smart approach to winning the midfield battle led to terrific performances from Shelvey and Diame. Both plied their trade in English football’s second tier last season, but they looked more like the big-money stars Pogba and Matic are supposed to be.

Shelvey and Diame were terriers, snapping into tackles, outrunning the opposition and using the ball with intelligence and quality.

It’s becoming a worrying trend for Mourinho to see the United midfield overrun. Part of the problem is the front-loaded nature of his squad, particularly since the arrival of Sanchez.

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The Chile international joined from Arsenal during the January transfer window, but entered a group already filled with versatile forwards. Signing Sanchez means Mourinho’s challenge is now fitting him into the same team as Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard.

The latter pair were both in red-hot form before Sanchez signed, so it’s been difficult to drop either. However, not dropping one of Lingard or Martial has meant one less natural central midfielder supporting Matic and Pogba.

Swapping Lingard or Martial for Juan Mata or Ander Herrera would give United a natural central trio. Mourinho’s best teams have traditionally been built on a midfield three.

Making room for Sanchez has been tough, but he is still United’s biggest threat. In fact, he should have scored in the north East when he glided around debutant goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, only to inexplicably decide against shooting into an empty net.

Unfortunately, United aren’t getting Sanchez the ball often enough because the duo expected to dictate possession are being outnumbered too easily.

Mourinho must decide which one of his incumbent forwards needs to miss out to make room for Sanchez, so he can put a third player into the heart of midfield and stop the bleeding.