78 2GM Thursday November 25 2021 | the times
SportFootball
Chelsea v
Man United
Sunday
Kick-off: 4.30pm
TV: Sky Sports Main
Event/PL
Radio: BBC 5 Livekeen on the vacancy at Old Trafford but
the former Tottenham Hotspur
manager is under contract at PSG until
the end of next season.
Other candidates under considera-
tion include Brendan Rodgers, the
Leicester City manager, and Erik ten
Hag, the Ajax head coach.
PSG have made contact with Zinéd-
ine Zidane, the former Real Madrid
manager, to assess whether he would be
willing to take the reins in the event that
Pochettino departs.
Pochettino said after his team’s 2-1
loss to Manchester City last night that it
was impossible to stop the speculation
about the United job filtering through
to the PSG dressing room. “The players
continued from back
would add energy to the United
engine room, which is carrying a few
walking wounded. Fred needed
treatment for a knee injury in the first
half in Spain, McTominay has only
just recovered from illness and Paul
Pogba is out until at least the new
year with a thigh problem.
The only other central midfielder,
Nemanja Matic, is a good operator
against lesser teams who do not
mind ceding possession but Chelsea
are an energetic side and Van de
Beek’s tenacity would therefore
come in handy.
Although Van de Beek has played a
large part of his career as a No 10, it is
worth noting that the Dutchman
played as a deep midfielder in his final
season at Ajax, when the team
reached the semi-finals of the
Champions League.On his few starts under Solskjaer,
Sancho was often used on the left flank,
cutting in onto his right foot but finding
traffic. Against Villarreal on Tuesday
night, he played mainly on the right and
stretched the Spanish side’s back four to
provide service for Cristiano Ronaldo
and score United's second goalSancho excels for United after
switching wingsDirection of playDirection of playVillarreal 0-2 Man Utd (Nov 23)Man Utd 2-1 Villarreal (Sept 29)touch
goalfernandes must return
Carrick ticked a box that Solskjaer did
not in his final few months in charge.
Unlike the Norwegian, he showed a
ruthless edge when it came to his
team selection. Solskjaer was
reluctant to drop star names, but
Carrick did just that in his first match
by naming Fernandes on the bench
after his poor showing against
Watford. In truth, Fernandes’s
replacement, Donny van de Beek, did
not exactly set the world alight in the
No 10 slot. It was only when
Fernandes came on for Van de Beek
in the 66th minute that United had a
creative edge to their midfield.
That does not mean that Van de
Beek should necessarily be dropped
this weekend, however. If he dropped
back into central midfield alongside
either Fred or Scott McTominay, heleft wing, rather than up front.
Anthony Martial spearheaded the
attack. The tactic did not work and the
pair switched positions after 15
minutes. Martial was no match for
Raúl Albiol, Villarreal’s experienced
centre back.
Ronaldo does little pressing, so
when Villarreal were in possession,
United’s formation morphed into 4-4-
2 and Fred shuffled over from central
midfield to the left wing to combat
the runs of Juan Foyth, the right back.
United cannot afford to repeat that
tactic on Sunday because if Fred has
to move over to the wing, it would
leave Carrick’s team outnumbered 3-2
in midfield. It would be dangerous for
United to allow players such as
Jorginho, N’Golo Kanté and Mason
Mount to run the midfield at
Stamford Bridge.SOCCRATES IMAGES/GETTY IMAGESSancho impressed in the victory over Villarreal, scoring his first goal for the club
and giving Carrick, left, a flying start to his interim spell in the United dugoutsancho belongs on the right
The most encouraging aspect of
Manchester United’s victory in Spain
was the sight of Jadon Sancho
charging at Pervis Estupiñán, the
Villarreal full back, down the right
wing. In four of the six games he
started under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer,
Sancho played on the left as an
inverted winger. The idea was for the
21-year-old to collect the ball on the
left and cut in on his right foot. The
tactic made sense in some respects
but quite often it resulted in Sancho
running into a congested area of the
pitch where Cristiano Ronaldo and
Bruno Fernandes operate.
On Tuesday night Sancho stayed
largely on the right touchline,
stretching the Villarreal back four. In
the first half, when he beat his marker
and whipped in a flat cross, Ronaldo
applauded him for his efforts.
Ronaldo is a killer in the six-yard box
so the more deliveries played into
the area, the better for him.
Sancho showed his
ruthlessness too, firing home
a fine strike to make it 2-0 —
his first goal for the club.
Sancho was equally
impressive off the ball. He
pressed the home defenders all
night. No United player
made more tackles
(four) than Sancho
did.
The England
winger’s pressing and
willingness to track
back will be
important on
How Carrick
got a reaction
from Sancho
and Fernandes
Paul Hirst studies what
can be gleaned from
the win over Villarreal
and how caretaker can
use that to beat Chelsea
Sunday if United are to neuter the
threat posed by the Chelsea wing
back, likely to be Marcos Alonso with
Ben Chilwell absent through injury.united more direct under carrick
One of the abiding memories of the
final few weeks of Solskjaer’s reign was
the tension in the crowd at Old
Trafford when United tried playing
out from the back. Harry Maguire and
Victor Lindelof are good passers of the
ball but when their confidence is low,
they can wilt under pressure, as shown
by Maguire’s meltdown at Vicarage
Road, when the United captain was
sent off for chopping down Tom
Cleverley after a heavy touch.
Carrick appears to have encouraged
David De Gea to play the ball long
more often. Against Villarreal, five of
his kicks landed in the opposite half,
three more than against Watford.
Given how strong Ronaldo is in the
air, targeting him from goal kicks and
open play makes sense until Maguire
and Lindelof’s confidence on the ball
has been restored. United should go
long again on Sunday. It is incredibly
difficult to play through Chelsea’s
press. Eric Bailly, who is expected to
replace the suspended Maguire, is
also not the best passer of the ball so
it would make little sense to try to
play out from the back.ronaldo should play up front
The Spanish newspapers were
full of praise for Ronaldo after his
stunning lob set United on the
path to victory. “Otra vez.
Ronaldo” (Ronaldo. Again) the
headline in the daily
newspaper AS read,
reflecting how the
Portuguese had
again saved his
side’s bacon in
Europe. For the
first time this
season, Ronaldo
started on theUnited consider Rangnick and Garcia
know very well our situation,” he said.
“We are living in a business where there
are rumours.”
Michael Carrick, who was put in tem-
porary charge after Solskjaer’s exit,
made a winning start with a 2-0 victory
away to Villarreal on Tuesday to seal
United’s progress into the knockout
stage of the Champions League.
However, PSG’s reluctance to release
Pochettino imminently means that
United are likely to appoint a more ex-
perienced interim manager until the
end of the season. Conversations have
taken place with Ernesto Valverde, the
former Barcelona manager. Lucien Fa-
vre, previously at Borussia Dortmund,
is a possibility, as are Laurent Blanc and
Ralf Rangnick. Rangnick is willing to
leave his role as head of sports and de-velopment at Lokomotiv Moscow, but
only if he is given a significant role at
United beyond this season. Ed Wood-
ward, the club’s executive vice-chair-
man, is an admirer of the 63-year-old
former Schalke manager, who would be
able to get out of his present contract
with relative ease. United have also spo-
ken to Rudi Garcia, the ex-Lyons man-
ager, about the interim role.
United’s football director, John
Murtough, and the technical director,
Darren Fletcher, are involved in the
recruitment of the new managers.
Woodward, who is still expected to
leave his position at the end of the year,
is also playing a leading role in the
process. Joel Glazer, the club’s
co-chairman, will have the final say on
who is appointed.Chilwell’s season may be over
Tom RoddyChelsea fear Ben Chilwell could be out
for the season as they await results of a
scan after the left back suffered suspect-
ed anterior cruciate ligament damage.
The 24-year-old suffered the injury
in the 4-0 win over Juventus on Tues-
day. He was assisted by two medics as
he departed the Stamford Bridge pitch
unable to put weight on the injured leg.
Chilwell was sent for examinations
yesterday, with further scans expected,
as a confirmed ACL injury is likely to
put him out of action for six to nine
months. He has only recently won back
his Chelsea place, playing an important
role as the club reached the knockout
stage of the Champions League and
rose to the top of the Premier League.Gareth Southgate, the England man-
ager, will be keen to hear the results
with the World Cup in Qatar less than
a year away. While Chilwell would be
expected to be back by then, it is likely
he would miss some of the prepara-
tions. Manchester United’s Luke Shaw
was Southgate’s preferred left back at
Euro 2020 in the summer but Chilwell
has been among a selection of alterna-
tives who have impressed of late.
He scored his first international goal
in October, midway through a run in
which he scored four times in five
matches for club and country.
Recovery times for ACL injuries vary:
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk took nine
months to return, while Leicester City
hope that James Justin will be back next
month after an injury in February.