There has been a number of different tactical aspects that Erik ten Hag has brought into Manchester United in pre-season so far, one of those has been an interesting use of inverted full-backs in possession.
United's build-up has looked well-improved during pre-season, and while it must be taken with a pinch of salt, there are interesting aspects and player roles that seem to be reasoning for this improvement.
Diogo Dalot has been taking up a more inverted position whilst United are in possession. Meanwhile, Jadon Sancho's starting position has been wider when on the right.
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This can be seen in the two examples below, with Dalot tucked in like a centre-midfielder and Sancho providing the width.
However, Sancho is not bound to the wing and has the license to move into creative roles more centrally. This is because of the width structure that Ten Hag seems to be introducing.
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This then allows Sancho to be in close proximity to the likes of Dalot, who inverts, so that he can link-up and create attacking situations.
In the below example, we see Sancho infield and play a lovely flicked pass to Dalot between the Crystal Palace midfielders, and the full-back can then drive into the opposition third.
With Sancho being crucial to the attacking play for United, Dalot's inverted role allows him to have closer potential link-up.
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It also means that Dalot can offer underlapping runs, and the defender also has the intensity in his profile to get on the overlap too if the opportunity is presented.
A regular attacking pattern in build-up seen so far has been this overlap/underlap from Dalot.
In the below example, we see it in alignment with Dalot's inverted position. He picks the ball up from Martial. Then he plays the ball wide to Sancho. His positioning infield allows the ball to be funnelled wide to Sancho more easily.
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Afterwards, Dalot attacks the space in behind and Sancho finds him with a pass that allows United to push Melbourne backwards and to enter a dangerous attacking situation.
Another example can be seen in the opening fixture against Liverpool, where Dalot's underlapping run on the counter-attack was found by Sancho. He then smashed the crossbar with a fierce shot.
This was all because of his inverted starting position once United gained possession. It allows him to support the winger in these moments going forward.
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The main positives of this role that Dalot is picking up is that he's able to help in the deeper build-up as an extra man centrally, but is also there to aid Sancho on the right.
The first point can be seen in the following example.
After Victor Lindelöf played a pass to Fred in the build-up, he is immediately pressed by an opposition midfielder. While the striker is looking to block the pass to Harry Maguire, Dalot's position means that Fred can bypass the immediate press with a short pass to the Portuguese.
Dalot's ability in possession also aids this role. He is good at finding progressive passes and carrying the ball forward. It means that he doesn't need to be a touchline full-back who is tasked with crossing, as he is pretty inconsistent in that regard.
His intensity in his runs forward also help when creative players like Sancho are on the ball.
So far, we are seeing some clear positives come from this role that he is taking up under Ten Hag, and he could end up being an important player for the Dutch manager next season.
Topics: Manchester United, Erik Ten Hag, Jadon Sancho, Diogo Dalot, Football, Premier League
Cain Smith