Leicester love a tackle, Villa like a scrap, Wolves enjoy a late goal, Watford can’t finish and Arsenal still don’t know how to defendBy Martin Laurence for WhoScoredDespite their poor run of form, Ole Gunnar Solskjær has commended the spirit of his Manchester United players. However, the numbers tell a different story. When a team is short of ideas and quality in attack, it is always a good idea to go back to the basics of defending to rebuild. But United simply do not work hard enough to regain possession. They have won fewer tackles and interceptions combined (125 tackles and 66 interception) than any other team in the division. They are not be far behind Manchester City and Liverpool in those statistics but, crucially, United are not keeping the ball as well or pressing as effectively. They have won the ball in the attacking third just 27 times compared to City’s 49 and Liverpool’s 57. Related: When Manchester United had an even worse start to the season . in 1989 Related: Mauricio Pochettino and his broken Spurs hit their lowest ebb | David Hytner Continue readingreadfullarticle
