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Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace vs Manchester United
“A Statement Win”
[THREAD]

Oliver Glasner’s Crystal Palace looked to defend compact with their high press and defensive block against Manchester United who dominated the possession — especially with 63 % in the 1st half.
Here’s how they adapted against Man United’s build-up ⬇️

Crystal Palace’s basic defensive shape is 5-2-3 but this could turn into a high press with specific instructions.
At first, they blocked Mainoo with Mateta, WBs (Munoz + Mitchell) pushed high to press Man United’s FBs, while Wharton was positioned deeper than Hughes to cover between the lines (Mount).

The narrow positioning of Eze and/or Olise could also help to minimize the access to Man United’s double pivot when Mateta jumped.
In this example, Dalot inverted ➡️Mitchell switched to press/mark Antony.

In the process of Crystal Palace’s 2nd goal, Man United tried to take advantage of Crystal Palace’s front 3 positioning but they were quick to recover and press aggressively in wide areas.

🐐

There were examples when Mateta jumped & Olise/Eze were not in position to close the central access.
This forced Wharton to jump ➡️ Clyne covered behind vs Mount.

Mount could drop even deeper to create the central overloads — potential problems for Crystal Palace especially when Clyne hesitated/was not in position to step up.
This is where the protection from the double pivot became more crucial.

Manchester United tried to stretch them and create counter movements (Eriksen & Hojlund) which also disrupted Andersen’s defensive marking in this example.
But Wharton was able to intercept the pass.
(Mitchell jumped to press Dalot which changed the shape into more of a 4-2-4).

Man United could find access when Crystal Palace's front 3 weren't compact enough.
In these examples, Olise didn’t position himself well to block the passing lane which created the passing lanes to between the lines.
But Crystal Palace often could recover and only allow 0.35 xG per @OptaAnalyst.

Crystal Palace actually struggled even more than Manchester United in the build-up, they often went long — targeting the 2nd ball & exploiting the space behind.

Despite that, they scored 1st in this game (from throw-in).
Olise dropped and interchanged with Eze, and this disrupted Man United’s defensive marking.
He received the ball between the lines and was between three Man United players but no one could stop him.

So much time and space for Olise.

Because of Man United’s press, Crystal Palace relied more on the transitions to attack Man United — the WBs were actively supporting the front 3.

Cutback & cutback.

At times, Clyne also looked to support the attack by underlapping/overlapping runs.
I’ve also mentioned this in the previous thread.

Crystal Palace eventually scored another one from a short corner kick — Wharton’s halfspace cross found Andersen inside the box ➡️ Mitchell.

Adam Wharton’s Trademark Cross ™️.
x.com

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In the 4th goal, Man United weren’t compact enough — Clyne found access to Olise who quickly combined with Wharton.
Amrabat didn't provide the defensive cover.