Manchester United beat Aston Villa 1-0 at home in the third round of the FA Cup. After the game, interim coach Ronnick praised the team for increasing the intensity of the game and the players were full of desire to win, which he was satisfied with.
In the game, C Ronaldo was absent due to injury, and Ronnick gave up the signature 4222 formation and played 4231 instead, and the fans expressed their joy before the game.
Lonnick explains: "We decided to play in the 4231 formation, with Edinson (Cavani) as the centre forward and Bruno (Fernandez) as the no. 10. I must reiterate that it's sometimes difficult to face an opponent who plays very flexibly in midfield because their number 10 player can be behind our number 6 and in the gap between the back and the centre-back, it's hard to defend, which is a big challenge. So then we switched to a diamond-shaped midfielder and improved the scene."
Commenting on United's tactics, Lonnick analyzed: "In the second half we used diamond midfield, the scene improved, and in the last 15 minutes, we controlled the game. On the counter-attack side, I want the team to improve its decision-making skills in key moments. If we could, we could score the second goal and not be as nervous as we were to take a 1-0 lead."
Old Trafford fans were visibly dissatisfied with United's recent results and put up large banners in the stands asking the team to improve their performance. The poster features the heads of legendary stars Cantona, Roy Keane and Brian Robson, with the English word "Standards" below.
Longnick insisted he was satisfied with the desire of Manchester United's players to win: "I think after losing to Wolves, everyone is looking forward to a rebound. The team reacted, we didn't lack intensity, but we still had difficulties in the game. In the first half, I think the team played well, there were a lot of diagonal passes, we had Villa have to move from side to side and that's how the goal was scored. But we still can't control the midfield, Villa's midfield is flexible, they have two no. 10 players and three no. 6 or no. 8 players, so we can't cope with it sometimes."
The Manchester United manager added: "But I see more aggression, although there is not enough pressing, but that is because the timing is not right. As I analysed, Villa was tough to deal with, but I at least saw a Manchester United team desperate to win, and that's why we won in the end."
United won thrillingly, thanks also to the VAR video assistant referee and goalkeeper De Gea. Lonnick believed that Villa's two goals were invalid offside and both were correctly awarded: "It wasn't obvious from the sideline, but I looked at the slow motion and I thought the other side was holding Cavani back, so it was definitely offside. Ultimately, I don't know if the referee awarded offside or foul, but for whatever reason, it was offside. The opponent was offside, so the goal was invalid, which I don't think is surprising."
"We have to be a team that can keep a clean sheet, didn't concede a goal today, but in my opinion, De Gea's performance is still outstanding. I also hope he doesn't have to save so much, there were four or five shots on target today, but we still improved in that regard." Lonnick said, "Are we making progress? Yes, if I said it was a perfect game, no one would believe it. Because this game is not perfect, we have a lot of places where we can do better, but it is important to win with a clean sheet and we work together. There are still areas to improve, however, it is easier to improve after a 1-0 win."
United will host Middlesbrough in the next fa-cup round, with Ronnick commenting: "Am I happy to have won Fort Mi? Yes, that's the goal today, to advance to the next round. We know that the next draw will be easier than versus Villa, but we still have to win this game first. In 5 days, we will be away to Birmingham again against Villa, and it will certainly be a very, very tough game."