The problem is how many players we’re benching to play this formation.
3-5-2 formation this season for United?
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
- Start date
If we went to 3-4-2-1 (under Ole or Conte) to fit in Rashford & Sancho/Greenwood either side of Ronaldo. Could Bruno play as a CM? Same role that Kovacic plays under Tuchel.
Not a problem, change it up with 343 against poor teams.
Or when chasing a goal.
Sancho and Rashford could easily play it.
If this is the way forward, why not just Antonio Conte to coach us? This is pretty much his bread & butter.
Can telles or shaw play on the right ?
Shaw LCB and Maguire on the bench?
3-5-2 suits Pogba just fine. Can slot in where McTominay is.
Rashford can play as one of the two, so can Greenwood. That’s 4 strikers for two positions, like during SAF’s time here.
We can also play with a 3-4-3 if we want to fit a Sancho and Rashford for example, just off a striker, in some games.
I think we have two forward too many, but no matter what formation you play, many of our best players will be on the bench.
We should prioritize a balanced team over trying to fit everyone on the pitch.
I agree but then we should recall Laird and let him play instead of AWB and VD Beek instead of Mac. A sort 343 with
Lindelof Varane Shaw
Laird Vd Beek Fred Telles
Cavani Fernandes Ronaldo
This is the formation we need with this group of players. Look more solid than 4-2-4. Definitely suits wan bissaka and Maguire. Might be not the type of football people want to see but it will get results.
I don't see ole ditching mcfred which means either pogba or bruno will be benched along with rashford and sancho unless they can play as wingbacks.
Shaw was excellent at LWB this summer? People jump on this Telles hype just because he whips a good cross in.
There's a misconception that it has to be a defensive formation. The players we have suit it, only sancho would really suffer
Not that I’m using this game as the benchmark, but if it produces results why is that a problem? Or for that matter any formation?
What’s important is playing to the teams strengths, not the individuals.
When a team is shipping goals, three CBs is usually the default most managers resort to. What about the shiny new toys like Sancho? Makes the decision to spend that money on a DM look more of a no-brainer.
Arguably it’s not playing to the teams strengths considering how much talent we have in our wide players. But yeah, results are the most important thing.
Soooo...
I do agree, with the players we have, you’d expect to find a happy medium between ultra attack and ultra defence. But I think the important thing is we’re now exploring other options than that ridiculous 424, even if the issue has been forced due to recent events.
We have too many quality forwards to play two at the from. Sancho, Greenwood and Rashford would probably like to play.
Ronaldo’s best game for United so far by far.
It's the best system for us to us, whatever combination of attackers we play. Been saying it for a while. Not that it'll always work, but Ole doesn't know how to coach us to be balanced so this by nature gives us more defensive balance while still playing some star attackers who don't do defensive work. Rashford, Sancho, Greenwood, Ronaldo and Pogba are all horrendous defensively for the positions they play in. Bruno works hard but doesn't have good positioning. Cavani a #9. We need to forget about how can we fit them all in and think about how can we be balanced best. With Ole or even Conte, a 3 at the back would be better to balance and then let the front 3 run wild, whoever it is in attack.
The team can't perform well (with the current staff) if we play 3 attackers AND Bruno or pogba. Quality in depth doesn't matter when they can't play together. This can be a strength if used properly, always having one of them to come in and go up against tired defenders.
Trying to fit too many players is the actual problem with the team to begin with. We have too many attackers in the squad and need to trim it down for balance.
With so many good forwards you'd think the team would be firing but Ole hasn't yet been able to implement an effective attacking lineup this season.
Would you rather 4-2-4 so they can get a game?
Yes, prob why we shouldn't get conte
Non issue. They can't play together so it doesn't matter.
I would. We need to have some solidity. We can always change it up depending on the team we're playing.
I would rather our most valuable assets don't leave the club when the old men are retired too.
For most of his tenure here, my thoughts are that Ole has generally utilised the squad to its strengths in playing fast, direct football. It suited the attacking players we had at the time and compensated for weaknesses in midfield and defence. It wasn’t wasn’t the fashionable possession game, but it was effective enough for us.
Towards the back end of his tenure however he’s been trying to play a game that doesn’t suit the team, and his squad building hasn’t really supported the outcome he wanted. It’s a shame it’s taken until now for that realisation to kick in.
I'd rather that problem than not winning.
It's done the job in this game but let's no throw the baby out with the bathwater.
United aren't a team that play with 5 defenders, especially with the quality options we have right now.
United aren't a team that play with 5 defenders, especially with the quality options we have right now.
Not for me. For certain games yes but not for the entire season
That should be the least of Ole’s concerns don’t you think? he is in survival mode.
It's nice to have this as a system we can use but I don't think it's the long-term answer. We'd basically just be writing off our 80M investment in Sancho because he absolutely doesn't fit in this system at all.
If we are going to continue playing it there are some tweaks we can make. I don't think playing the three centre backs together is necessary. I'd much rather see Shaw at LCB and Telles used as a wing back. And with five at the back, we absolutely can play Pogba in a midfield two alongside McTominay or Fred.
If we are going to continue playing it there are some tweaks we can make. I don't think playing the three centre backs together is necessary. I'd much rather see Shaw at LCB and Telles used as a wing back. And with five at the back, we absolutely can play Pogba in a midfield two alongside McTominay or Fred.
Why? If it means keeping clean sheets and being defensively solid, we should persist. We are a counter-attacking team and today showed Ronny and Cavani and Bruno can click.
Until we have a great DMF and a striker who can press, if Ole wants to keep his job, it seems a foregone conclusion that against stronger teams we need to play 3-5-2 (defensively 5-3-2) and against weaker teams maybe switch to 3-4-3, which will give Sancho, Rashy, and Greenwood some more playing time without ever benching Ronaldo (which seems critical for Ole).
So, basically Ole will turn into less experienced Conte?
So, basically Ole will turn into less experienced Conte?
Actually suits our personnel. Can’t think of a better formation for our 4 strikers, can play Pogba in midfield with the cover around him and have Varane patrol the back 3.
If Ole is to stay then it's our best chance IMO. Use the Chelsea/Tuchel method of just rotating around your front 3 between 6 quality players, always making subs to change things up, and then the defence stays solid by nature of having more numbers and quality players.
Rotate the midfield 2 around between Mctom/Fred/Matic/Van de Beek or even try Pogba now that he has an extra CB behind.
Fred is not United quality but did you see how much work he and McT put in today. Really not sure Pogba is a good fit there. He just doesn’t work hard enough.
Because at home, we are gonna be expected to control the game and create more. Spurs were woeful too