We've all been talking (including myself) on how crap Ole has been and contemplating whether he should be the manager and talking about shipping certain players out or bringing in certain players in January. However, those are a little far-fetched. I would like us to focus on what changes can Ole bring in (immediately) to improve our current tumescent playing style?
Like many of you, I've noticed that Ole has regressed since playing the 4-2-3-1 formation. He started his United managerial career by playing the 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-3) with the starting 11 as below.
---- Martial --- Rashford --- Lingard
---------- Pogba -------Herrera
------------------ Matic
Shaw --- Jones ------- Lindelof --- Young
We've strengthened our defense with the likes of Maguire and Wan Bassaka coming in for Jones and Young. However, we lost Herrera who was very important and we underestimated his influence on the team. I guess we've used Pereira in the role in recent games but he's not the same player. McTominay could be used in that role to break up play but he's not got the playmaking ability to release our forwards. Matic has obviously gotten slower and that's where McTominay has featured for us for the majority of the season. We've had the likes of James and Greenwood come in and although they've been phenomenal, we'll need them to improve with every passing game. A lot of teams have realized that we've depended on the counterattack as our main form of attack which is why most teams have their defense right at the back whereby they nullify the likes of Rashford from finding the gaps and therefore, he can't find any positions to operate and with our two CMs playing deeper than usual, we expect our No. 10 to do all the work of bridging the gap which happens to be Lingard (not good enough), Mata (too slow), Pereira (average but played on the right most of the time).
I think we should give Rashford a rest. He's obviously off-form and injured at the moment. Martial can hold the ball up a lot better than any of our forwards. Hence just have him play as No. 9 consistently. Pogba needs to play higher up the pitch. We can't have two DM in front of the defense. We need to trust Maguire and Lindelof/ Tuanzebe to protect De Gea. Hopefully, Luke Shaw will be back and AWB can continue to do what he's doing best. With that being said, I've got two possible ways in which we could be setup.
---- James ----- Martial ------ Dalot
---------- Pogba --------Garner
--------------- McTominay
Shaw --- Maguire ------- Lindelof --- AWB
With the shortage of forwards, I wouldn't want to burn Greenwood out. Therefore, I wouldn't have him start games or give him 90min games (game in/ game out). Fred seems very inconsistent and I think he and Garner could share the position next to Pogba. Rashford can come on for Martial or James depending whose burned out or playing well. I'm playing Dalot higher up the pitch as almost a forward because of his attacking prowess and ability to cross the ball. He's got a good shot on goal as well. I would bring Greenwood on for Martial or Dalot and give him minutes. Yes, Gomes is more effective as a No. 10 but I think he's done well playing on the left, so I would also give him minutes for James towards the end. I think having Rashford and Martial play together will only burn the two out since we're short of experienced forwards.
We could also employ a 3-4-3 when we are playing any of the top 6.
----- James ----- Martial ---------- Dalot
Shaw ----- Pogba ------- McTominay --- AWB
---- Maguire ---- Lindelof -------- Tuanzebe ------
For this one, I've brought on Tuanzebe instead of Garner and this change could be made in-game if we seem to be bombarded when we are playing the 4-3-3. This gives us better stability and I would be very surprised for this team to concede goals.
What are you guys' suggestions? if you had a chance to talk to Ole and offer ideas on how he could better the current performances given the resources we have at the moment.
Like many of you, I've noticed that Ole has regressed since playing the 4-2-3-1 formation. He started his United managerial career by playing the 4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-3) with the starting 11 as below.
---- Martial --- Rashford --- Lingard
---------- Pogba -------Herrera
------------------ Matic
Shaw --- Jones ------- Lindelof --- Young
We've strengthened our defense with the likes of Maguire and Wan Bassaka coming in for Jones and Young. However, we lost Herrera who was very important and we underestimated his influence on the team. I guess we've used Pereira in the role in recent games but he's not the same player. McTominay could be used in that role to break up play but he's not got the playmaking ability to release our forwards. Matic has obviously gotten slower and that's where McTominay has featured for us for the majority of the season. We've had the likes of James and Greenwood come in and although they've been phenomenal, we'll need them to improve with every passing game. A lot of teams have realized that we've depended on the counterattack as our main form of attack which is why most teams have their defense right at the back whereby they nullify the likes of Rashford from finding the gaps and therefore, he can't find any positions to operate and with our two CMs playing deeper than usual, we expect our No. 10 to do all the work of bridging the gap which happens to be Lingard (not good enough), Mata (too slow), Pereira (average but played on the right most of the time).
I think we should give Rashford a rest. He's obviously off-form and injured at the moment. Martial can hold the ball up a lot better than any of our forwards. Hence just have him play as No. 9 consistently. Pogba needs to play higher up the pitch. We can't have two DM in front of the defense. We need to trust Maguire and Lindelof/ Tuanzebe to protect De Gea. Hopefully, Luke Shaw will be back and AWB can continue to do what he's doing best. With that being said, I've got two possible ways in which we could be setup.
---- James ----- Martial ------ Dalot
---------- Pogba --------Garner
--------------- McTominay
Shaw --- Maguire ------- Lindelof --- AWB
With the shortage of forwards, I wouldn't want to burn Greenwood out. Therefore, I wouldn't have him start games or give him 90min games (game in/ game out). Fred seems very inconsistent and I think he and Garner could share the position next to Pogba. Rashford can come on for Martial or James depending whose burned out or playing well. I'm playing Dalot higher up the pitch as almost a forward because of his attacking prowess and ability to cross the ball. He's got a good shot on goal as well. I would bring Greenwood on for Martial or Dalot and give him minutes. Yes, Gomes is more effective as a No. 10 but I think he's done well playing on the left, so I would also give him minutes for James towards the end. I think having Rashford and Martial play together will only burn the two out since we're short of experienced forwards.
We could also employ a 3-4-3 when we are playing any of the top 6.
----- James ----- Martial ---------- Dalot
Shaw ----- Pogba ------- McTominay --- AWB
---- Maguire ---- Lindelof -------- Tuanzebe ------
For this one, I've brought on Tuanzebe instead of Garner and this change could be made in-game if we seem to be bombarded when we are playing the 4-3-3. This gives us better stability and I would be very surprised for this team to concede goals.
What are you guys' suggestions? if you had a chance to talk to Ole and offer ideas on how he could better the current performances given the resources we have at the moment.
