Chapter 17: Friendly match against Cadiz
As the team were preparing for the friendly match against Cadiz the players on loan that came to the club for training has returned to their respective clubs and the world cup is starting to get close to an end with Brazil, France, Argentina, England, Portugal among others in the quarter-finals.
On the day we returned to competitive football even though it is a friendly, I can see the players are hungry for the game, after Eric discussed with the medical and analysis team, we decided that the match is best used to help us know the physical limits of the players in a competitive match since they are more energy consuming than trainings.
At 7:00pm UK time, on December 7, 2022 Man United versus Cadiz kicks off at the Nuevo Mirandilla stadium.
Manchester United lines up in a 433 formation.
Goalkeeper: Dubravska
Defenders: Wan bissaka, Lindelof, Mengi, Brandon Williams.
Midfielders: Zidane Iqbal, Mctominay, Van de beek.
Forwards: Sancho, Martial, Garnacho.
While Cadiz lines up in a wide 442 formation.
Goalkeeper: 13 D Gil
Defenders: 20 I Carcelen, 23 L Hernández 37 L Spatz 21 S Arzamendia
Midfielders: 10 T Bongonda, 6 J Marí (c), 36A Blanco, 17 A Mabil
Forwards: 15 L Pérez, 18 Á Negredo.
The game gets underway by Martial who pases to Van de beek, he then relays the ball to Lindelof who then goes long looking for martial, who tries to head the ball to Sancho but was intercepted and the ball was passed immediately to the Cadiz goalkeeper.
Ten hag's POV.
Immediately I order the players to relentlessly press them for the ball which they understood and followed immediately forcing the Cadiz goalkeeper to go long after passing to their defender Hernandez who returns the ball back.
After we won the ball back, the players following the game plan were playing aggressively trying to force the Cadiz players back while combining tactical flow and technical superiority as well as better fitness by counter pressing if the ball is lost.
At the 8th minute, the first big chance of the match came when Sancho got the ball on the right from a switch by Iqbal from the left giving Sancho space to meet his adversaries one on one at the edge of the box, after some quick step overs, Sancho was able to beat his man and play a whipped cross into the centre onto the path of a rushing Garnacho who lost the ball to an alert Hernandez who manages to clear the ball of the line.
Some minutes passed in which the Cadiz players were basically toyed with before another big chance came through this time Man United capitalizing on errors from Cadiz defenders when we made it seemed we needed a break after the fast tempo we started with.
After a short goal kick by the Cadiz goalkeeper gil, Man United players rushed like at the Cadiz players resulting in them giving their teammates hasty passes until a wrong first touch by the Cadiz captain from a heavy pass, Iqbal touched the ball to an de beek who returns it to Mctominay, immediately the ball was launched to Brandon who then passed to a Sancho that happens to have switched to the left side. Sancho on getting the ball passed a Cadiz player like a stake , got pass another with a one-two with Martial and then layed a pass on to the path of Garnacho creating a one on one situation with the goal keeper who then rounded the keeper before slotting it home. Goal to Man United at the 16th minute.
That broke the dam for Man United with the players acting like sharks that smelled blood, rushing at Cadiz players, creating chances and enjoying themselves before the first half ended with a 5-0 score line with a goal and three assists from Sancho, 2 goals from martial and an assist, a goal and an assist from Garnacho, and Lindelof heading in a Sancho's taken corner.
At the beginning of the second half, Iqbal and Garnacho were taken off and Sancho, martial and Lindelof were removed at the 55th minutes, bringing in some academy players to train.
That resulted in a back and forth between the two teams and goals from McNeil and Shoretire ended the match and Cadiz scoring a face saving goal at the end of the game thereby ending the match with a score of 7-1.
After the game the players were given a day off after the post match analysis with our analyst help. Something I love since I believe it is something done earlier better right after the game when the players mind are still on the game. The players showered and got massaged before heading home while I went to see the boss on the transfers progress and giving him a list of players I have given up on.