In part three of The Peoples Person’s exclusive interview hosted by Gambler Media, legendary Manchester United centre-back Gary Pallister turns his attention to the side’s defensive vulnerability, their problems at set pieces and the protection being provided by midfield.
Pallister’s United pedigree is substantial. He arrived from Middlesbrough in 1989, spent nine years at Old Trafford and won four league titles, three FA Cups, the League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup before returning to Middlesbrough in 1998. That experience gives particular weight to his assessment of defending as a collective task rather than simply a test of the back four.
How worried are you by United’s defensive vulnerability?
“Defensively, we’ve looked a bit fallible. And it’s not just the defence as well. It’s how you protect the defence as well.”
“You take the plaudits for clean sheets, but it’s usually a team ethic that is the cause of all of them. Everybody works hard to get back and protect your back four, so it’s a collective thing as well. At set pieces, people have to pick up. We look vulnerable from set pieces, so there’s work to be done there.
“They’ve got a really good coach in Jonathan Woodgate, who understands that position more than most, I would suspect. I’m sure he’s working diligently on the training ground to try and shore it up at the moment.”
What do you think is at the root of the problem?
“I don’t know. I remember at Middlesbrough we were always conceding early in the game, and the more it gets drummed into you, the more fearful I think you get of conceding early in the game. It becomes a mental thing.
“The set-piece thing is about individuals staying with their men, being physical and winning your challenges. That should be meat and drink for your centre-halves.”
“You get teams like Hull who are big lads. They’re going to look to survive in the Premier League really on set pieces because they’re physical and they’re tall, so that can be difficult.”
What did you make of the response after Manchester City went down to 10 men on Sunday?
“We couldn’t really change gear when they went down to 10 men. We didn’t play with a tempo. We know how difficult it can be sometimes against 10 because they’ll sit in, defend, block up space and make it difficult for you.
“We just didn’t really have the guile. There was the one pass by Bruno Fernandes when he found Mbeumo, where we probably should have scored. But apart from that, we didn’t really open up that City defence because they were so compact and so deep. It was frustrating.”
“We’d have probably been better off with it staying 11 versus 11, I think. But when you’re getting beaten by 10 men, it doesn’t look good.”
Does the midfield pairing offer the defence enough protection?
“I’m not quite sure about that. I think Baleba will come in and he’ll make a difference there. He’s got the energy levels and the toughness. He likes to win the ball and he likes to be aggressive.
“As I say, I think he was one of the targets that we were pinpointing last season, so we knew we were going to need that kind of player.”
What could Baleba add once he is available?
“I think Santos is supposed to be a bit like that. He’s maybe struggled to find game time in the early part of the season, but Baleba’s proven in the Premier League and I think he’ll help in open play. He’ll help the back four in terms of protecting that.
“It’s a shame he was injured because I think a game like that yesterday would have probably suited him.”
Final Thoughts
- Pallister believes United’s defensive problems require a collective solution.
- He identified marking, physicality and individual duels as key set-piece concerns.
- Pallister expects Carlos Baleba to provide aggression and greater midfield protection.
The first part of this interview with gary Pallister, on Michael Carrick, can be read here and the second part, on Leny Yoro, here. The final part will be published tomorrow.
Featured image by Michael Regan via Getty Images
