With Ronaldo, how do we line up?

VidaRed · Sep 2, 2021

----------------------------------DDG--------------------------------------
-------------------Varane----------------Maguire--------------------
--AWB-------------------------------------------------------Shaw------
--------------------Bruno-----------------Pogba-----------------------
---Greenwood-----------Ronaldo-----------------Sancho-----
---------------------------------Cavani------------------------------------

Feck the defensive midfielder against mid table and relegation fodder, they'll be parking the bus anyways. Against strong opposition fred/mctominay comes in and either ronaldo or cavani goes to the bench.

Rashford is injured so he's been left out.

BeforeKeanetherewasRobson · Sep 2, 2021

VidaRed said:
----------------------------------DDG--------------------------------------
-------------------Varane----------------Maguire--------------------
--AWB-------------------------------------------------------Shaw------
--------------------Bruno-----------------Pogba-----------------------
---Greenwood-----------Ronaldo-----------------Sancho-----
---------------------------------Cavani------------------------------------

Feck the defensive midfielder against mid table and relegation fodder, they'll be parking the bus anyways. Against strong opposition fred/mctominay comes in and either ronaldo or cavani goes to the bench.

Rashford is injured so he's been left out.

So a 4-0-6 formation?

SirScholes · Sep 2, 2021

Bruno Fred Pogba

should be the midfield combo, sancho Greenwood supporting CR7
Anything else is wrong, seeing line ups with rashford in is baffling with Greenwood in the form he is
That midfield should be enough to beat anyone

BeforeKeanetherewasRobson · Sep 2, 2021

Solius said:
I see the competing spots as this:

GK: de Gea, Henderson
RB: AWB, Dalot
RCB: Varane, Lindelof
LCB: Maguire, Bailly
LB: Shaw, Telles
CM: McTominay, Fred, Matic
CAM: Bruno, VDB, Lingard
LAM: Pogba, Rashford
RAM: Sancho, Greenwood
ST: Ronaldo, Cavani, Martial

VidaRed · Sep 2, 2021

BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:
So a 4-0-6 formation?

4-5-1

Although playing ronaldo and pogba together would make the game more entertaining since neither would track back and we have no dm's :lol:

Cmz' · Sep 2, 2021

I'd be stunned if we didn't move towards more of a 433 before the end of the season. Based off the small evidence so far, Bruno and CR7 playing their current roles doesn't work so i think for the benefit of the team Bruno will probably have to drop 5/10 yards further back however I don't think this is necessarily a negative for us. It will certainly mean that there's a natural decrease in his numbers (and I'm sure Ronaldo taking pens will put paid to that too) but i think it will massively benefit us in the build up which is an issue we have faced for a while as we'll have an extra body in midfield.

If you look at our team and say that Sancho/Pogba can operate as the creators off the wing, with Rashford/Martial/Greenwood being the primary goal getters you can quite easily field a team of:

---------------------- Fred
-------------- Bruno---- Pogba
Greenwood - Ronaldo - Sancho

in smaller games and bring McTominay in for Pogba in the bigger ones to give you more defensive protection. I know people have been critical of the idea of a Fred/Bruno/Pogba 3 but personally I feel that is strong enough to put a few past the vast majority of smaller sides in this league.

Becks00 · Sep 2, 2021

dal said:
I do not like Pogba in a two however I do think he can play with Mctominay in there because we need a physical presence when Pogba goes forward.

I love Greenwood but I think with Ronaldo upfront we can play the below and it’s just about our best team with added creativity.

———————Ronaldo———————
—-Rashford———————Sancho
————————Bruno———————
———Pogba————————————
——————————Mctominay——-
Shaw—————————————AWB
—————Maguire—-Varane————
—————————DDG———————-

Fred, Lindelof, Greenwood, Cavani, Henderson, VDB, Diallo.

Great backup options.

I feel I’m being optimistic and as the season goes on Fred will slowly come in for Pogba.

It's like Martial does not exist any longer. He is a very good player on top form but yeah he has to start showing it regularly now

BeforeKeanetherewasRobson · Sep 2, 2021

Becks00 said:
It's like Martial does not exist any longer. He is a very good player on top form but yeah he has to start showing it regularly now

He doesn't play centre forward, we have two obvious choices that are better, perhaps three.

He'll struggle to get the wide right slot, outside chance of wide left.

So yeah, he's not going to play much. Should have gone to Lyon

Andersons Dietician · Sep 2, 2021

DDG
Bissaka Varane Maguire Shaw
Fred
Bruno——Donny
Sancho—Ronaldo-Pogba

I mean I really like Greenwood and in an ideal world I’d have Sancho on the left to accommodate Greenwood on the right but so so many options.

Lentwood · Sep 2, 2021

How about this at OT against bottom half teams, just for fun...

GK - De Gea
RB - Sancho
LB - Shaw
CB - Maguire
CB - Varane
MC - Pogba
MC - McT
AMC - Bruno
AML/F - Ronaldo
AMR/F - Greenwood
ST - Cavani

Would 100% be interesting to watch! Clearly never going to happen in practice

Red00012 · Sep 3, 2021

BeforeKeanetherewasRobson said:

choccy77 · Sep 3, 2021

Some people seem to think VDB is going to start games suddenly.

I ask these people to seek medical treatment ASAP if they truly believe this is gonna happen.

snk123 · Sep 3, 2021

Greenwood will become a much better player now that Ronaldo would absolutely crucify him if he doesn’t pass.

NotoriousISSY · Sep 3, 2021

De Gea
Wan Bissaka Varane Maguire Shaw
McTominay
Fernandesh Pogba
Greenwood Cavani Ronaldo

I'm not expecting to see this lineup much, because it's disastrous in midfield on paper. But I hope we see it once and it's 9-0 Vs Brighton or something.

Robbo* · Sep 3, 2021

Lentwood said:
How about this at OT against bottom half teams, just for fun...

GK - De Gea
RB - Sancho
LB - Shaw
CB - Maguire
CB - Varane
MC - Pogba
MC - McT
AMC - Bruno
AML/F - Ronaldo
AMR/F - Greenwood
ST - Cavani

Would 100% be interesting to watch! Clearly never going to happen in practice

Could put Rashford at left back..

worldinmotion66 · Sep 3, 2021

I'm hoping to see Greenwood on the right making runs centrally. Ronaldo in the box as the striker. Fernandes drifting wide right and crossing more often. And Shaw bombing forward to overlap Pogba on the left. Van De Beek needs to play if one of Fred or McTominay is unavailable, or against lesser teams when we should play a high press with one anchoring midfielder.

Ronaldo
Pogba Fernandes Greenwood
Fred McTominay
Shaw Maguire Varane Wan Bissaka
De Gea

San Diego Red · Sep 3, 2021

Ole is to safe to play with one Dm it's going to be two of Fred Mctominay Matic VDB

Peyroteo · Sep 3, 2021

De Gea
AWB-Lindelof-Varane-Maguire-Shaw
McTominay-Pogba
Bruno
Greenwood-Ronaldo

De Gea
AWB-Varane-Maguire-Shaw
McTominay-Pogba
Greenwood-Bruno-Rashford
Ronaldo

RedRonaldo · Sep 3, 2021

Mr Smith said:
I actually think the opposite; Pogba will play more frequently in a midfield 2, especially against weaker sides. If you have Ronaldo up front or LW, you need the player closest to him to be a high energy pressing player. Presumably that will be Rashford/Sancho if Ronaldo is up front, or Cavani if he's on the left wing.

I know Pogba playing deeper presents risks in midfield, but he also progresses the ball more than any other midfielder we have. Personally I would bite the bullet and play him as one of the two. You put Fred and McTom next to him and also drag Bruno 10-15 yards deeper to add legs and another passing option, rather than playing him as a second striker.

It would be different in big games though, when I'd rather go with the McFred midfield and play more on the counter.

Sancho isn’t a high energy pressing player though.

Crashoutcassius · Sep 3, 2021

No real choice but to play him centre forward and play a usual system, but with cavani on the bench and martial as a winger more often.

I suppose we could play him left wing buy introduces more problems than it solves in my book

meamth · Sep 3, 2021

Played Pro Evo Soccer on master league with the new signings.

...I have trouble finding minutes for Cavani, Sancho and Martial.

The Boy · Sep 3, 2021

NotoriousISSY said:
But I hope we see it once and it's 9-0 Vs Brighton or something.

Why would you want to lose 9-0 to Brighton?

Woodzy · Sep 3, 2021

Stick him on the bench. That’ll learn him for leaving us all those years ago!

Utd77 · Sep 3, 2021

Greenwood, Ronaldo and Cavani, looks simply devastating.

pass.pass.pass · Sep 3, 2021

Peyroteo said:
De Gea
AWB-Lindelof-Varane-Maguire-Shaw
McTominay-Pogba
Bruno
Greenwood-Ronaldo

De Gea
AWB-Varane-Maguire-Shaw
McTominay-Pogba
Greenwood-Bruno-Rashford
Ronaldo

These formations could work if Bruno tweaks his game a bit and stops playing as a second striker. At present, there is just too much space in United's midfield.

OmarUnited4ever · Sep 3, 2021

I really don't care who starts and who doesn't, I don't want to see a repeat of Southampton & Wolves games, i want to see cohesive team performance that extracts the best out of this squad, because i think we have a strong squad this season with addition of Varane, Sancho & Ronaldo.

NinjaZombie · Sep 3, 2021

UnitedFire said:
I've never quite understood what it is about Pogba that doesn't work and I think I finally get it. He is an LCM and that is it.

That means in a 3 CM setup with him on the left he'll be great as long as other 2 are doing the hard work.

He also works well in a LWF position as effectively the same thing, but with no real expectation to do defensive work even if it can be helpful at times.

He is the kind of player you wouldn't buy on Football/ Championship Manager as so few formations and other players suit Pogba. I think its ultimately why we always struggle to find the best for him.

I think Fred and McTominay will be fine with a hard working DM who can pass and you won't need to change your team to suit them.

I think Pogba would still continue to look poor as the other midfielder even if we got Ndidi or Kante types. He just doesn't have the work rate.

Yeah he's not a cm in the strictest sense. He dallies too much on the ball and doesn't have a skill set to dictate tempo.

Fred is also not a dm. He's the sort of player who runs around pressing spaces and players in midfield. Little wonder that a midfield 2 of him and Pogba doesn't really work.

royboy16 · Sep 3, 2021

Tricky one, It will keep some of our players fresh as they wont be playing every game now but going to be a bit of a selection headache for Ole.

Chicharo · Sep 3, 2021

VidaRed said:
----------------------------------DDG--------------------------------------
-------------------Varane----------------Maguire--------------------
--AWB-------------------------------------------------------Shaw------
--------------------Bruno-----------------Pogba-----------------------
---Greenwood-----------Ronaldo-----------------Sancho-----
---------------------------------Cavani------------------------------------

Feck the defensive midfielder against mid table and relegation fodder, they'll be parking the bus anyways. Against strong opposition fred/mctominay comes in and either ronaldo or cavani goes to the bench.

Rashford is injured so he's been left out.

Too much space between the lines. Lose the ball and our defense and DDG are in big trouble, as neither Pogba nor Bruno will be able to chase the opponent
Against weaker and slower teams, play Fred or McT alone, against tougher opponents McFred in the middle, Pogba on the left.
That is the price you pay when you don't sign a DM or even strengthen midfield in any way.

I watched ARG last night (I watch their every game), we could of at least tried to sign Guido Rodriguez, if nothing, just for the sake of the depth of the squad. He plays regularly for the national team,he's strong, good at tackling, has played really good for Betis since he came from Mexico , and would've cost next to nothing

Bastian · Sep 3, 2021

I can't help thinking Cavani would be incredibly effective to get the best out of Ronaldo. There is no greater purposeful worker in the team than Cavani, and Ronaldo is not really a typical #9, though Cavani is. It's quite problematic to fit them both into a team given the midfield situation, but I would be quite interested to see something like

-------------------de Gea
AWB---Varane--Maguire---Shaw
------------McTom--------Pogba
Greenwood----Bruno
--------------Cavani------Ronaldo

With Bruno told to drop deeper, or at the very least, not to go forward at every single opportunity, as well as laying off the non-stop long balls for runners, as it won't fit our personnel (and quite often just gifts the opposition possession).

In this scenario, we can also mix it up from the goal kicks, with Cavani fighting for the ball and Mason and Ronaldo going for the second ball. That's one way of increasing our slow tempo and laboured build up with its limited passing lanes.

Of course, Pogba has been class wide left, and Sancho needs to be fitted into the team, but Ronaldo in my view is not a lone striker and it showed how beneficial Benzema was for him and how detrimental it was for Portugal not to play with a workhorse #9 but instead crowd Ronaldo with a million technicians who all like the ball to feet.

I don't think any central defensive pairing (or three) wants to face both Cavani and Ronaldo.

And of course, Cavani will need his match time managed, so I am more thinking in the bigger matches. This is also quite a physically imposing side, and should definitely benefit in set pieces at both ends.

jimmyb2000 · Sep 4, 2021

Can't see us paying £75 million for Sancho to sit on the bench - knowing Ole and his love of 4-2-3-1 and the Man Utd board with their commercial expectations and demands I'd expect our first team to eventually look like this:

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
McTominay - Fred
Sancho - Bruno - Pogba
Ronaldo

Subs:
Henderson
Lindelof
Dalot
Matic
van de Beek
Martial
Rashford
Greenwood
Cavani

#07 · Sep 4, 2021

Ronaldo is just replacing Martial, its not very complicated. He'll do all the drifting wide stuff Martial does, just better, with more goals.

Sandikan · Sep 4, 2021

jimmyb2000 said:
Can't see us paying £75 million for Sancho to sit on the bench - knowing Ole and his love of 4-2-3-1 and the Man Utd board with their commercial expectations and demands I'd expect our first team to eventually look like this:

De Gea
AWB - Varane - Maguire - Shaw
McTominay - Fred
Sancho - Bruno - Pogba
Ronaldo

Subs:
Henderson
Lindelof
Dalot
Matic
van de Beek
Martial
Rashford
Greenwood
Cavani

It's funny, when you think about the 93-94 classic lineup, everyone immediately can quote the main 11. Yet that main 11 only started a tiny amount of games together.

I think it'll be the case with the 11 you mention too.
Plenty of games to rotate based on form, fixtures, injuries etc

Sandikan · Sep 4, 2021

#07 said:
Ronaldo is just replacing Martial, its not very complicated. He'll do all the drifting wide stuff Martial does, just better, with more goals.

Definitely.
The only question that really mattered with signing Ronaldo was is he a better option than anyone else we can play up front.
And I doubt anyone would say no.

#07 · Sep 4, 2021

Sandikan said:
Definitely.
The only question that really mattered with signing Ronaldo was is he a better option than anyone else we can play up front.
And I doubt anyone would say no.

Depends on how much Talksport are willing to pay I think! :lol:

TrustInOle · Sep 4, 2021

NotoriousISSY said:
De Gea
Wan Bissaka Varane Maguire Shaw
McTominay
Fernandesh Pogba
Greenwood Cavani Ronaldo

I'm not expecting to see this lineup much, because it's disastrous in midfield on paper. But I hope we see it once and it's 9-0 Vs Brighton or something.

My word this needs to happen! The finishing that will be on display :keano:

pablo__p · Sep 4, 2021

The only manager I'd trust setting up a team with all of our attacking talent and no proper midfield is SAF.

Sandikan · Sep 4, 2021

#07 said:
Depends on how much Talksport are willing to pay I think!

Yep. All these buffoons who reckon Kane is a better bet if it comes to the crunch in the big games.
What does Kane know about big games?

It's only the English bias that doesn't mention that he's been an absolute myth in the big games he has played in to date.
Missing at 1-0 up in the World cup semi etc.

Versus a guy who has played in all the biggest games, and scored against everyone.

tob · Sep 4, 2021

I'd like to see us playing with two central strikers sometimes. Playing the diamond formation a few games, maybe?

Regulus Arcturus Black · Sep 4, 2021

My guess for the first game back.

With Ronaldo, how do we line up?

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