This quite fortuitous win against Newcastle displayed a few tactical advancements from Louis Van Gaal's men but still a few short comings. The decision to play a more balanced 4-2-3-1 as opposed to a 4-1-3-2 is certainly paying dividends defensively as United have kept two consecutive clean sheets and only allowed Newcastle two shots on target in the entire game. Despite Herrera's defensive positioning still being an issue, they are certainly making strides in this area. The idea of playing wider in the last two games hasn't done anything to effect United's slow attacks. The fact still remains that their tempo is still too slow, they play too many passes backwards and are overly obsessed with possession statistics. It doesn't matter whether their intention is to penetrate through the middle or out wide, if the transition to the final third is as sloppy as it has been, clear cut chances are difficult to come by. This game has gone to show that tactics can quite simply be thrown out the window when it comes to individual errors. Ashley Young's winner can't be explained with reason, it's just one of those things.
Having recently graduated from university, I have joined WhatCulture as a contributor to cover sport, WWE, TV and film. Formerly published nationally in the Guardian and Independent.
