Call me an idiot but that 5 at the back formation looks solid to me. Knowing one of Rashford/Martial will drift wide and We've always relied on counter attack. It won't hinder our offense much if We do play on the counter.
It's
very solid.
I rewatched the City game a couple of days ago, and we looked almost impenetrable... granted, our creativity wasn't great and we were helped significantly by City shitting the bed. But it's a formation that provably works against big teams.
The only caveat is that McTominay/Fred/Matic are the only players of capable of playing in the disciplined way that we've set up the last few games. I don't see how Pogba can possibly do the same job. Even his World Cup performances wouldn't translate to the job that the other 3 have been doing this year.
Ole will need to balance up the risk versus the reward of playing a hyped up Pogba-Bruno axis, versus a much more proven Fred-McTominay double pivot. I keep flipping between the two options in head.
If I had to guess, I think we'll start with Fred-McTominay and keep it tight while we check to see what Tottenham have got up their sleeve. If it's nothing, we'll bring on Pogba. But if they look consistent a threat, we'll carry on sitting deep and countering. You can't un-concede after an early goal, but you can score after a quiet start. Logically, that's the only approach that makes sense because Spurs are a relatively unknown quantity after the extra long break.