Former midfielder Owen Hargreaves honed in on the way full-backs Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia moved into midfield during the first half of Manchester United's clash with Omonia Nicosia on Thursday evening.
In a largely uneventful first 45 minutes of United's first home game for more than a month, both Dalot and Malacia, when the home side were in possession of the ball, moved inside to try to create a midfield overload. It is a tactic that has crept into United's play in recent weeks.
However, it was a particularly obvious instruction that United manager Erik ten Hag had given the duo on Thursday evening. Malacia was often in midfield, as opposed to being in his natural left-back habitat.
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Dalot, also moved inside, looking to create an overload and drag Omonia players with him, all in an attempt to leave Antony with more space to work in on the right-hand side. Although it has been a common trait in United's play in recent weeks, Hargreaves felt it was, for the first time, blindingly obvious.
"We haven't really seen that," Hargreaves told BT Sport. "I think he [Ten Hag] has done it previously at Ajax.
"But the full-backs are coming inside and we see it from Pep [Guardiola] and his teams, and United are doing it today. It's not just Dalot, by the way, who is a great passer, it's Malacia as well; he's always in the centre of midfield.
"He gets inside and eventually goes outside, back to his natural position. He's looking to overload inside so they can get a numerical advantage."
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