Man Utd's Rangnick demanded more intensity, but stats show he actually got LESS

Fans in the Stretford End at Old Trafford have commissioned a huge banner emblazoned with the word, ‘Standards’, and illustrated with the silhouetted pictures of their heroes, Eric Cantona, Roy Keane and Bryan Robson.

It was apt the banner was unfurled last night, since Manchester United’s interim manager, Ralf Rangnick, used the FA Cup third round tie against Aston Villa to lay down the law for his squad and set out the standards he now demands.

He wants more intensity from his players and he exhorted them to adopt the high-energy pressing style the coach has cultivated, and others have copied, to deliver success.

Manchester United Pressing and Intensity

'High Turnovers' are the number of sequences that start in open play and begin 40m or less from the opponent's goal. 'Pressed Sequences' are the number of sequences where the opposition has three or fewer passes within 40m of their own goal. The 'Start Distance' is the average metres from a team's own goal that attacks begin. PPDA logs the number of passes a team allows the opponent to make before attempting to win the ball back. Source: Opta

But United’s players did not deliver. In fact, their performance in a streaky 1-0 win actually fell below most of their previous hit and miss efforts, under Rangnick.

The Opta stats for the game reveal they pressed less, not more; won fewer high turnovers and played deeper, compared to the games that went before.

The collective intensity the coach desires was missing, again.

And of course, the data confirms what every United fan could see in the game itself: Villa outfought the home team and swarmed all over them in their own back yard.

What a contrast to what Rangnick had asked of his team.

'Whenever you watch games, even if it's not the top teams, they play with intensity, they play with physicality, they play with energy and they sprint,’ Rangnick observed before the match.

‘This is the only way we can compete at this level,’ he added. And, of course, he is right. The contest with Aston Villa was just another example of ehat happens if you don’t. Villa should have won.

Two statistics, in particular, stand out of the Opta analysis.

One measures the number of oppositions passes per defensive action (PPDA) and is used to indicate the intensity of a team's pressing. It logs the number of passes a team allows the opponent to make before attempting to win the ball back.

Villa allowed United just eight passes on average. That is a high-intensity game.

Meanwhile, United let Villa have 16 passes before they got stuck in. That isn’t.

Another notable data point reveals the Villans were up and at United winning 11 high turnovers, whereas the Red Devils won just three, themselves.

As a consequence, Villa started their attacking sequences (the ‘start distance’ in the table above) further up the pitch, about level with the centre circle, on average. While United obtained possession and looked to play forward from deep inside their own half.

At times, United showed more than they did against Wolves. Scott McTominay, in particular, bit into tackles in midfield and looked motivated. Edinson Cavani tracked back and there were tantalising glimpses from Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood.

Indeed, reverting to the 4-2-3-1 formation favoured by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer threatened, in the early stages, to bring the good times back.

But despite individual effort, as a team, United could not maintain a sustained influence on the game, let alone the control that Rangnick craves.

‘As soon as we begin to look passive, like we did against Wolves, we are struggling,’ Rangnick observed prophetically before kick-off. And that is exactly what happened here.

As Sportsmail reported today, the coach isn’t satisfied with the work-rate of the group left behind by Solskjaer, but whether that was the root of the problem against Villa, or an inexplicable lack of motivation, or poor organisation, it is hard to tell from outside the camp.

It looks like a combination of all three.

United lacked intensity, some players looked dejected, Rashford, in particular, and the team struggled to cope with the physicality and nous of Villa’s midfield.

The West Midlands’ outfit ensured their midfield three played narrow and outnumbered Fred and McTominay, creating that advanced platform from which to launch their attacks.

John McGinn, Douglas Luiz and Jacob Ramsey won possession 26 times in that crucial central part of the pitch, compared to McTominay, Fred and Fernandes, who managed to retrieve the ball on just 18 occasions.

Meanwhile, Fernandes is out of form and Rashford and Greenwood did not do enough out wide to make the difference.

However, it is the comparison with the previous Rangnick performances that must rankle most with the coach.

Everything dropped off in the United display, compared to the German’s first five games in charge.

They pressed less (an average of 12.6 pressed sequences compared to 10 against Villa); they failed to win the ball high (7.6 wins on average compared to three); they played deeper and they allowed the opposition to enjoy more possession before trying to win the ball back (12.4 passes to 16.1).

In short, Rangnick demanded the players give him more… and they didn’t.

The Stretford End’s ‘Standards’ banner may be a long-term investment.