Swansea 0 Manchester United 4 -- Pocket Aces

Pregame/Lineups

Swansea: 5-3-2.

Will Mesa push high or hold back? Will fullbacks take license in attack, or counterattack in bursts? Can midfield play and hold fast versus a Manchester midfield that tore West Ham apart? Will Naughton & Olsson join the midfield numbers to maintain Swans' possession? Will Naughton/Olsson, in joining the midfield, be caught out, exposing the Swans' back three to Manchester counterattacks down the flanks? Need Manchester United bother with flank play, or will they attack up the center? If Ayew/Abraham (A/A) are stranded up top without link play, Swansea will be as good as playing with nine men.

Key: Fullbacks' role in midfield; fullbacks' stamina. Mesa's link play with attackers. Mesa's role.

Manchester United: 4-2-3-1

Will Pogba force forward as he did versus West Ham? Can the Red Devils remove A/A from the equation in dominating midfield play and forcing Swans into a seven-/eight-man defense? Versatility of a five-man attack and/or defense, depending on the movement of Blind/Valencia, and the resultant stationing of permanent midfielders (Pogba/Matic staying at home as shields).

Key: Choose where to attack and do it -- either flanks or up spine of Swansea formation. Maintain midfield dominance. Valencia/Blind movement.

First Half

Olsson & Naughton not committing forward early. MU pressure in midfield. Pogba pressing.  MU fullbacks have license to operate in midfield. Swans midfield spaced, maintaining  form/separation from Swans defense. Not giving in to threat of MU attack. Fer/Carroll "neutral space" midfielders -- parallels box-to-box, if "boxes" instead are Swans' attacking line and defensive line. Vacuums, Carroll and Fer, on left and right. MU 24th minute frustrated by Swansea midfield, playing long balls in to Lukaku, who had shown muscle/pace against Swans CBs, nearly breaking through on more than one occasion. Long-range shot by Rashford through traffic -- nothing. MU settling back, letting Swans come, then pushing on counterattack. Swans back three holds. A/A outlet a long one, reliant on long passing. MU rope-a-dope -- allowing Swans to push forward, trusting Matic/Pogba/defense, then striking on counterattack with fullbacks/numbers. Rashford muffs a chip in 35th minute after being played through on the counter. Bailly goal, 45th minute, from a set piece. Fernandez could have cleared, thought ball had gone over the line prior to Bailly's pushing past him and finishing the header which had struck the underside of the crossbar and Fabianski.

Halftime Needs

Involve A/A in Swans attack. Work through Fer/Carroll more than through Olsson/Naughton. Win free kicks and corners, Swans. Don't commit forward and be caught out, despite need for goal. MU: allow counterattack to occur when it presents itself as an option. Hold possession as a default in M-M-R attacking line, on edge of attacking third. Force Swans into compression as a result. Force the eight-man defense, Olsson and Naughton now pushing forward at own peril.

MU need to maintain more possession, longer, at the top of Swans' 18-yard box. First half possession in that area was fleeting, and it's brevity allowed Carroll/Fer to hold in formation and Olsson/Naughton to be on front foot, ready for an attack up the flanks. If MU sustains pressure in ball-possessing attack, Swans linkage to Ayew/Abraham weakens and the Swans attack is stranded until it, too, must come back into Swans' defensive half to facilitate an attack. Tempting for MU to settle for counterattack, given its efficacy in the first half -- MU can put away the game, though, with sustained possession and allowing the counterattack to occur as an organic product of Swansea's need to take the ball and push forward for an equalizer.

Second Half

MU attacking, defending, keeping formation. Not bothered about a goal, knowing Swansea will need to expose themselves -- whether in five minutes or thirty minutes -- insofar MU sustains itself in consistency and forces Swans to play its hand.

To 60th minute: Swans have kept organic play, too -- MU have nothing to reap, for Swans know they can score, too, when playing in their present formation AND if they win a corner or a free kick. Takes one opportunity.

Stalemate/chess match -- to be opened up by a goal or the constraint of time on Swans' need to salvage a result. Swans substitutions, 67th minute: Mesa off, Narsingh on. Bartley off, Routledge on. A spinal substitution (CM, CCB). MU subs, 74th minute: Fellaini on, Mata off. Martial on, Rashford off. Fellaini sits deep with Matic, Pogba moves into midfield's attacking three with Martial and Mkhitaryan. While Rashford held wide for most of the match, Martial drawing the defense out of position as he moves into right attacking midfield pocket, on opposite side of pitch. Lukaku fills weak side on left, runs unmarked. Ball in. Lukaku open. Goal, 80th minute.

Pogba running through defense on center-right. A chip over Fabianski at an angle. Goal, 82nd minute.

Swansea substitution, 83rd minute: McBurnie on, Abraham off. Attacking three of Pogba, Mkhitaryan, Martial streaking on counter attack. Lukaku behind them, racing up from defense. Numbers against a defense committed forward. Goal, Martial, 84th minute. MU substitution, 85th minute: A. Herrera on, Mkhitaryan off. Herrera assumes space in right attacking midfield, Pogba to CAM.

Postgame Points

Swansea substitute their spine, MU jigger with player roles. MU attack fluidity boosted by late substitutes' energy and Pogba's change to CAM. MU three goals in under five minutes. Swansea not "at fault" -- MU created their goals. Olsson/Naughton as good as gone for final 30 minutes. Pogba's position change as good as a fourth substitution.

MU established strong starting lineup, poached a goal on the edge of halftime, and allowed Swans to break itself down from then on -- abetting Swans' breakdown with substitutions and changes in on-pitch players' roles. MU were strong, yes. Inseparable from the 4-0 scoreline is the approach MU took to perpetuating their strategic advantage. MU held cards in their pocket and played those cards after sizing up Swansea's earlier second-half substitutions. Swans changed DM, CB: not a breakdown, but enough of a change in consistency to facilitate the fruition of MU's subsequent changes.

Mourinho is at his best when on the tactical front food; when he holds cards, can size up his opposition based on the opposition's need for goals or the opposition's formational lacks/excesses, and can then install his team's pieces from there that which is necessary to his team's securing and sustaining dominance over proceedings. Mourinho holds the mirror, and acts upon his team to mirror the image he beholds.

Upcoming:

Mourinho: "The thing I want to happen is for the team to be losing." -- How will Manchester United play when the ultimatum is against them, when they themselves must force play?

Swansea: Hold back on substituting critical central players; bring in attacking midfielder to link with attackers (to replace Sigurdsson).