Match date: 25 February 2014

Coming into the match, Manchester United had won their previous four meetings with Olympiakos, who remain unbeaten in the Greek Super League this season.

As it has been throughout the season, however, this year’s Manchester United has struggled to find consistency in their play and David Moyes has struggled to make in-match changes to have any influence. A good example being Manchester United’s draw against Fulham, when the Red Devils attempted 82 crosses with little effect.

With Mata unavailable, as he is cup-tied, Moyes selected Young and Valencia on the wings, with Rooney in the hole behind van Persie. Cleverly and Carrick were the holding midfielders, with Vidic and Ferdinand at centre back and Smalling and Evra as the full backs.

For Olympiakos, Michel has put out his side in a 4-2-3-1 for much of their Champions League campaign and in January sold their top goal scorer in Kostas Mitroglou to Fulham.

Olympiakos Out of Possession 

In the opening minutes of the match, Olympiakos looked to be continuing their usage of a 4-2-3-1 with Maniatis in a holding role next to N’Dinga, but within the first five minutes of play, Maniatis was noticeably further forward than N’Dinga and was playing closer to Dominguez. With the shape more like a 4-3-3 than a 4-2-3-1, this allowed Olympiakos to match up with Manchester United’s 4-2-3-1. N’Dinga had the responsibility of marking Rooney and Maniatis and Dominguez could apply pressure to Carrick and Cleverly. Below you can see a perfect example of this just 5 minutes into the match.

Above, you can also see the Olympiakos wide players are pinched in, allowing Manchester United to play the ball to Smalling and Evra. The full backs receiving the ball was a trigger for the Olympiakos to again press. With Carrick and Cleverly marked and Smalling and Evra pressed immediately upon receiving the ball, it meant that Ferdinand and Vidic had a considerable amount of time on the ball and more often than not, rather than take chances going to forward with the ball, they would keep possession of the ball at the back. This is credit to Olympiakos’ pressing throughout the match. They were certainly brave in getting numbers around the ball and winning it high up the pitch, as they consistently won the ball off from Smalling, Cleverly, Ferdinand, and Carrick.

The good pressure from Olympiakos forced Manchester United to try to play balls in behind the Olympiakos back line to van Persie and Young, with Valencia dropping back frequently to try to get involved in the play. With Maniatis and Dominguez pressuring higher up the pitch, it meant that N’Dinga was left to deal with Wayne Rooney on his own as the Manchester United number 10 played in the hole for the first hour of the match, before moving back alongside Carrick. During his time in the hole, however, Rooney was forced to take up wide areas as D’Ninga controlled the space in front of his back four and behind the two advanced midfielders.

There were a number of periods during the match where van Persie was isolated against the Olympiakos centre backs and Manchester United were very slow to support the Dutch striker when they were able to play forward passes to him, which were generally in the wide areas of the pitch. Below, you can see where van Persie received the ball, again in the wide areas of the field, as well as the amount of passes that Manchester United were forced to play in their half of the field as Olympiakos’ pressing and midfield positioning forced them into playing the ball between Ferdinand and Vidic.

Olympiakos Show Attacking Intent

In the first few minutes of the match, Olympiakos were able to keep possession of the ball well and work it into their front players. Alejandro Dominguez, who got Olympiakos’ first goal of the game, was very good at linking the midfield and attack as well as putting pressure on the Manchester United back four on the dribble. Joel Campbell, on loan from Arsenal, who scored the second goal, also looked to dribble at the Manchester United defenders, in particular Evra and Vidic. His second goal saw him meg a recovering Michael Carrick before bending the ball around Rio Ferdinand into the bottom corner. There were at least two occasions when Vidic had to make a last ditch tackle on Dominguez to save his midfielders from being at fault for a resulting goal.

Despite scoring two goals, Olympiakos did not really created a clear cut chance, or at least not as clear cut of a chance as the one van Persie had in the second half that resulted in him shooting over with his right foot. Olympiakos’ best play was quick and direct. Despite being the lone striker, Olaitan didn’t really add much to the attacking side of Olympiakos’ play. At times they tried to be intricate around Manchester United’s penalty area, but rather than allowing them to create openings, it simply forced United very deep and left van Persie isolated at the other end of the field.

United Chase the Game

After the second goal, David Moyes’ made two changes, Welbeck on for Valencia, and Kagawa on for Cleverly. Kagawa for Cleverly, in theory, added more creative to United’s play, but the withdraw of Valencia was an interesting. Chris Smalling had a very poor game at right back and with Valencia’s experience playing at right back when United were looking for a goal under both Moyes and Ferguson, it seemed like it would have made more sense for Smalling to be withdrawn and Valencia moved to right back as United chased the game.

With the changes, Welbeck played on the left, but continually took up positions in the centre of the penalty area, which van Persie later commented on, saying that his teammates were taking up positions that he would have liked to have been in, though he did not name Welbeck in particular. Ashley Young moved to the right side of the attack, with Kagawa in support of van Persie, and Rooney dropping alongside Carrick.

United’s play, despite the changes to personnel, seemed just as lethargic as it had for most of the match. Even when they were two goals down, they sat back and allowed Olympiakos to keep the ball rather than pressure them as Olympiakos had done all game to United. In the final 30 minutes of the match, United attempted just 7 tackles, with just 2 in Olympiakos’ half of the field.

Olympiakos’ Changes

Having instructed his side to be brave in their pressing and take chances, in the closing stages of the match, Michel began to make sure that his side held onto the two goal lead. His first change saw Joel Campbell come off for David Fuster, who played on the left, moving Hernan Perez to the right side of the attack. His second change was taking off Olympiakos’ other goal scorer, Dominguez, and bringing on Paulo Machado. Before taking off Perez for Valdez.

Michel’s biggest adjustment was not in the personnel that switched, but rather his return to a 4-2-3-1. Having set his side out in a 4-3-3 to match up with Cleverly and Carrick, Michel moved Maniatis back alongside D’Ninga, giving Olympiakos more presence deeper in midfield. The lack of pressure up the field allowed Manchester United to create more opportunities higher up the pitch as Olympiakos invited United into their half by sitting deep, but United only managed to have one shot on goal for the entirety of the match.

Conclusion

A day before the match, Moyes said that Olympiakos were a slightly weaker team having sold Mitroglou in January, and perhaps this was a sign of confidence in the United camp. Overall, however, this may have been the worst display from United under Moyes. Olympiakos should have garnered more respect than they had going into the match, as they are unbeaten in the Greek Super League and made it through to the knockout stages of the competition, but for United to have registered just one shot on target against them is unexpected.

Olympiakos did have an incredible performance, but they had purpose and were brave in their decision making. Away from home, at Old Trafford, it will be interesting to see how Michel instructs his side to play and it will be more interesting to see how Moyes and United respond to such a defeat.