Challenges of a midfield 3 until the end of the season

Zlatattack

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For whatever reason our team is struggling with 4231 and looks better in 433. Lots of people want to see us adopt 433. In that formation our midfield would consist of Pogba-Matic-Someone.

Who should that someone be? Fellaini is injured, Herrera seems off form, but maybe he could be played into form?, Carrick might not be the right player for that position, which leaves McTominay. I think he'd probably do a good job.

I was also wondering if Lingard could do that role? What do the rest of you think? He does track back quite a bit, can run with the ball and has good vision. I think it's not his best position but is it worth a try?

I also think we might be a bit light on the ground to use it regularly. If Fellaini was fit again then maybe he could replace Pogba sometimes (awful as it sounds), Carrick can replace Matic and Herrera/Mctominay could swap (maybe Lingard could be in the mix too).

I'd still like to see it being used for like half our games at least. I think it's going to provide our players the comfort blanket they seem to need to perform.

Thoughts?
 

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Martial Lukaku Sanchez
Pogba Matic Herrera

you can still bring lingard on from the bench
 

Loon

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Maybe McTominay has been promoted and getting games because Mourinho thinks he has the best chance of ultimately being the most effective current player in that three?
 

charlenefan

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Neville was adamant during his commentary yesterday that we were playing 4-3-3 with Lingard as a midfielder, maybe all this time pundits criticising Pogba's positioning in midfield are overlooking Lingards?
 

Irish Jet

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I would play any one of Carrick, Herrera, Fellaini, McTominay, Blind or fecking Lukaku in a midfield three before seeing that same lineup used again.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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Neville was adamant during his commentary yesterday that we were playing 4-3-3 with Lingard as a midfielder, maybe all this time pundits criticising Pogba's positioning in midfield are overlooking Lingards?
Yes Lingard has been tucking in to help the team. I thought he was poor yesterday and against Spurs but I don't want to get on his back when he's doing his best out of his favoured position/role. Of our current squad I'd prefer Herrera (if he's showing enough form) or McTominay (if he's ready) on the right of midfield than Lingard dropping in.
 

roonster09

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Neville was adamant during his commentary yesterday that we were playing 4-3-3 with Lingard as a midfielder, maybe all this time pundits criticising Pogba's positioning in midfield are overlooking Lingards?
Tbf Lingard played deeper in last few games but what's the point of him even playing deeper is beyond me. It's not as if he is capable of playing as a midfielder, why not just play a proper one there.
 

Henry Gaervell

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Depends on the opposition. I'd play Carrick as he 3rd man in the games where we need to defend and either Lingaard or Mctom in the games where we can be more liberal in our attacking play. We may see more of Carrick anyway as Matic is looking very jaded and needs rotation.

A mistake was not to secure an additional midfielder during the January window, after signing an attacking player, midfield was a high priority.

Herrera and Fellani could also feature of course. I've kind of given up on Fellani due to his regular injuries and strong likihood that he will be gone by seasons end. Afraid that I've also given up on Herrera as he is a shadow of last year and to be honest has never been consistent to a high level for united.
 

charlenefan

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Yes Lingard has been tucking in to help the team. I thought he was poor yesterday and against Spurs but I don't want to get on his back when he's doing his best out of his favoured position/role. Of our current squad I'd prefer Herrera (if he's showing enough form) or McTominay (if he's ready) on the right of midfield than Lingard dropping in.
What is Lingard's favoured position though? He's not a wide player, he's nota central midfielder, I guess his most natural position is as a number 10 but not in a De Bruyne, Silva, Mata sense picking out passes but more of a playing in-between the lines with his movement
 

charlenefan

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Tbf Lingard played deeper in last few games but what's the point of him even playing deeper is beyond me. It's not as if he is capable of playing as a midfielder, why not just play a proper one there.
Exactly!! Lingard's had a good little goal scoring run and now he's the first name on the team sheet even if it means shoehorning him in? Come on he's not that good
 

SwSw

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Neville was adamant during his commentary yesterday that we were playing 4-3-3 with Lingard as a midfielder, maybe all this time pundits criticising Pogba's positioning in midfield are overlooking Lingards?
Why do we tuck Lingard in the midfield if the idea is to have some legs there? Why not just put a proper CM there?
 

charlenefan

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Why do we tuck Lingard in the midfield if the idea is to have some legs there? Why not just put a proper CM there?
I've been asking for months what does Herrera need to do to get a game, I know he's hasn't been great this season but he's not going to get better without given the chances (granted he's been injured for the last couple of games though)
 

edgar allan

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I've been asking for months what does Herrera need to do to get a game, I know he's hasn't been great this season but he's not going to get better without given the chances (granted he's been injured for the last couple of games though)
He has been terrible this season. The Herrera of a few years ago would have been great with Matic and Pogba.
 

roonster09

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I've been asking for months what does Herrera need to do to get a game, I know he's hasn't been great this season but he's not going to get better without given the chances (granted he's been injured for the last couple of games though)
Jose said he is injured, maybe he is not in right frame of mind with all the match fixing allegations going on?
 

amolbhatia50k

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If Herrera is in form I'd go for him and Matic just behind Pogba. If Herrera plays like he did last season with him and Matic we could properly contest midfield battles leaving Pogba to do all the fancy stuff he seems inclined on doing.
 

SwSw

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I've been asking for months what does Herrera need to do to get a game, I know he's hasn't been great this season but he's not going to get better without given the chances (granted he's been injured for the last couple of games though)
IMO, Mou think Lingard is better than Ander so is unfair to bench Lingard. Idk but i really want to see a real CM playing there.
 

kouroux

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@charlenefan I'm with you on this, I think it's come down to a choice between playing Pogba and Lingard at the same time. What Mourinho is doing is very stupid, he's throwing his most "in-form" players at the same time (Lukaku/Lingard/Sanchez/Martial/Pogba) and somehow hope it will all work out itself. Sure it could if the players share the same philosophy and general understanding of football but if not then you have to apply some form of coaching.
There is a clear lack of balance in the team with Pogba and Lingard, they wanna occupy the same areas way too much and the addition of Sanchez doesn't help as the central areas get crowded even more.
 

12OunceEpilogue

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What is Lingard's favoured position though? He's not a wide player, he's nota central midfielder, I guess his most natural position is as a number 10 but not in a De Bruyne, Silva, Mata sense picking out passes but more of a playing in-between the lines with his movement
I agree, that's why I edited my post to say 'position/role' as I don't actually dislike Lingard being able to drop deep to carry the ball, provide a passing out further back and hassle the opposition when we're out of possession.

There was a point yesterday when a Newcastle player was shielding the ball from Young in the corner, only for Jesse to sneak in, take it and get us on our way again. It was a brilliant demonstration of how his all-action skillset can have a positive effect in deeper areas.

However where he is at his very best is as you say in a central role moving between the lines, which we didn't see anywhere near enough of yesterday. Again I'm not looking to criticise Jesse for that as there were a whole host of other problems, but for me just because he can do a job further back doesn't mean we should be asking him to, as we have the likes of Herrera and even McTominay who should specialise in that kind of role.
 

roonster09

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Btw biggest challenge might be Jose wanting to prove Pogba can do everything in midfield 2 as a feck you to all the pundits and "Einsteins"
 

amolbhatia50k

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@charlenefan I'm with you on this, I think it's come down to a choice between playing Pogba and Lingard at the same time. What Mourinho is doing is very stupid, he's throwing his most "in-form" players at the same time (Lukaku/Lingard/Sanchez/Martial/Pogba) and somehow hope it will all work out itself. Sure it could if the players share the same philosophy and general understanding of football but if not then you have to apply some form of coaching.
There is a clear lack of balance in the team with Pogba and Lingard, they wanna occupy the same areas way too much and the addition of Sanchez doesn't help as the central areas get crowded even more.
It seems pretty obvious to bench Lingard. He's clearly not as our other attackers and he's not a midfielder.

I'd play Matic and Herrera/Mctominay and get them to fight for every ball. At least we'll have two CMs bothered to win the midfield battle. Pogba and 3 attackers infront of him.
 

amolbhatia50k

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Btw biggest challenge might be Jose wanting to prove Pogba can do everything in midfield 2 as a feck you to all the pundits and "Einsteins"
That would be the most uneinstein thing he could himself possibly do.
 

kouroux

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It seems pretty obvious to bench Lingard. He's clearly not as our other attackers and he's not a midfielder.

I'd play Matic and Herrera/Mctominay and get them to fight for every ball. At least we'll have two CMs bothered to win the midfield battle. Pogba and 3 attackers infront of him.
It should have been automatic IMHO. Mourinho seems to love Lingard and it is understandable why but it's his job to make a "tough" choice. Cannot play them all at the same time.
 

The Man Himself

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Carrick-Matic-Pogba in Europe. Herrera-Matic-Pogba domestically.
 

Jaybomb

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I think it’s obvious that McTominay needs to play from now on. He brought the balance against Huddersfield. And with Fellaini out, he seems to be the natural “steel” we’re looking for. He’s tall, seems comfortable on the ball and will only improve as a tackler.

Herrera is too weak. Carrick is past it. And I think we can all agree that we no longer want to see Pogba playing so deep. So McTominay it is.
 

Nikelesh Reddy

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For whatever reason our team is struggling with 4231 and looks better in 433. Lots of people want to see us adopt 433. In that formation our midfield would consist of Pogba-Matic-Someone.

Who should that someone be? Fellaini is injured, Herrera seems off form, but maybe he could be played into form?, Carrick might not be the right player for that position, which leaves McTominay. I think he'd probably do a good job.

I was also wondering if Lingard could do that role? What do the rest of you think? He does track back quite a bit, can run with the ball and has good vision. I think it's not his best position but is it worth a try?

I also think we might be a bit light on the ground to use it regularly. If Fellaini was fit again then maybe he could replace Pogba sometimes (awful as it sounds), Carrick can replace Matic and Herrera/Mctominay could swap (maybe Lingard could be in the mix too).

I'd still like to see it being used for like half our games at least. I think it's going to provide our players the comfort blanket they seem to need to perform.

Thoughts?
Stick with Herrera until the end of the season,and then sign a top class RCM in the summer(Maybe Vidal)...With Matic and Herrera alongside him,Pogba will have the freedom to bomb forward and rip the opposition apart....
 

youngrell

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For me it's simple to get the balance required in midfield by slotting in Herrera in place of Lingard (Jesse can still play on the right or come on in games when needed). Herrera has seemed out of sorts and fans have been regularly on his back about his individual performances, but if his being in the team offers the whole team a better balance, whether he's having a great game or not, then just play him.

In simple terms the balance would be something like this:
Matic 75% defence, 25% offence
Herrera 50/50
Pogba 25/75

Currently we have:
Matic 75% defence, 25% offence
Pogba 25/75
Lingard 25/75

Not only does it overload Matic with too much defensive work, but with Lukaku, Sanchez and Mata/Martial all wanting to come central in attack, adding both Pogba and Lingard really congests the central areas. It all just looks like a mess to me when we come forward.