What formation best suits the squad?

[AkaAkuma]

I think with everybody fit, the current 4-2-3-1 can work, although we would still be placing Rashford or James on the right and hoping it would work. Its not ideal, I think theres a better way to lineup to get the best out of the squads skill set.

So how should we lineup with the players we have?

 

[haram]

Squad is not good enough to stick to one formation.

A formation that includes 3 CM's though.

 

[OhGee]

Ole had best success with a 4-3-3 formation with one sitting midfielder, one box to box and Paul further up the field. Problem arose when we started to pick up all those injuries ( I think it was Pool at home where it started) and then Ole started to move away from the formation that gave him the most success and results and performance started to suffer. After all those poor performances he has stick with conservative 4-2-3-1 with 2 DM’s even though we have a much better back 4 this season. He needs to revert to the midfield 3 with Fred, Mctominay and Pogba and we’ll see the results. Certain games he can tweak to the 4-4-2 midfield diamond but stay away from the 4-2-3-1 with this current personnel

 

[Man of Leisure]

This is like a fatty asking which outfit makes them look the skinniest.

 

[POF]

When the midfield 5 in the previous league game was McTominay, Matic; Pereira, Mata, James, then unfortunately the formation is the least of United's worries.

Compare that to Fergie struggling to get the balance right with Keane, Veron; Beckham, Scholes, Giggs. Ole has a thankless task.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

We have pace. Exploit the shit out of it.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

We don't have a right winger or a reliable no. 10. I'd say 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.

 

[devilish]

4-3-3 with Mctominay-Pogba-Fred in midfield, James and Rashford on the flanks, Martial/Greenwood upfront.

 

[gajender]

We don't have a right winger or a reliable no. 10. I'd say 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.

How does these formations work with fullbacks who are useless going forward.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

How does these formations work with fullbacks who are useless going forward.

At least we have fullbacks .

The thing with this squad is, however you shuffle it, the quality just isn't there.

 

[gajender]

At least we have fullbacks .

The thing with this squad is, however you shuffle it, the quality just isn't there.

Agreed we just have too many holes in the squad no matter how we set up it would still be unbalanced.

 

[MadDogg]

Both our main midfielders (Pogba and McTominay) suit a three man midfield. We don't have anybody suitable to playing #10. That means 4231 is out. We don't have attacking fullbacks so can't play 3-5-2 or 442 diamond.

433 is the obvious one. It's what we played during our great run of form last season. It gets the best out of our two main midfielders. I don't understand why Ole moved away from it.

 

[Foxbatt]

Diamond. With this squad the only option. Play Jones as the holding midfield player. Rojo on the left side of midfield and Scott on the right. Pogba on top of the diamond. Martial and Rashford/ James up front.
Jones should not get dragged about from the middle. Let Pogba and the front two create. Pogba will create if he pushed further forward. Rojo and Scott will bring the steel there and will not let them cut thru the midfield. People will not like it but right now it's the only option to keep in touch with the top 6.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Just go back to 433, enough of this 4231 bullshite

De Gea
AWB Lindelof Maguire Shaw
Mctominay Fred Pogba
Rashford Martial/Greenwood James​

 

[sideshow_bob]

4-2-2-2

James | Greenwood
Pogba | Fred
Matic | McTom
Shaw | Maguire | Lindelof | AWB

Subs:
Martial | Rashford
Gomes/Lingard | Mata
? (Garner maybe) | Pereira
Young/Rojo | Jones | Tuanzebe/Bailly | Dalot

 

[1988]

433 I'd say. I do have a soft spot for 4312 too. We've looked pretty good when playing with Rashford and Martial playing somewhat wide up top with Lingard as the "shadow striker" ish. If I remember correctly 4312 / 433 hybrid is what we played initially when Solskjær took the helm.

At the moment I'd probably go with a 433: de Gea, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelöf, Maguire, Shaw; Fred, McTominay, Pogba; Greenwood, Martial, James.

 

[davidmichael]

4-3-3 with De Gea, Wan-Bisakka, Tuanzebe, Maguire, Shaw, McTominay, Garner, Pogba, Greenwood, Martial and Rashford as the first choice starting 11 and then bring in a right sided attacker, an out and out defensive midfielder, a playmaker and an alternative left back.

I couldn’t give a feck if people say the kids aren’t ready as Greenwood, Gomes, Chong and Garner offer far more than Mata, Lingard and Matic do and maybe the exuberance of youth and the unpredictability of them being unknown will work in our favour.

 

[Fracture90]

Think that any formation that has Pogba sitting really deep, is the wrong one. He's pretty much our only creative player and one of few that can make a useful pass in the final third.

 

[Organic Potatoes]

We don't have a right winger or a reliable no. 10. I'd say 3-4-3 or 3-5-2.

If Dalot was ready to start at LWB and you have a lot of confidence in Axel, that wouldn't be half bad.

That's a lot of 'if' though.

 

[Wednesday at Stoke]

4-3-3

James Martial Dalot
Pogba McTackle
Fred
Shaw Maguire Lindelöf AWB
deGea​

 

[Wolff]

It really dosent matter! The manager want a unit press team. He is short a few players at the moment but He can’t keep changing formations like he did last season when he is trying to implement his ideas. But 4-2-3-1 is pretty versatile when you look at it. Without change of personnel you can change it to 4-3-3, and even go from there to 4-5-1. So many options with that formation, and so many different tactics to deploy from it.

 

[OverratedOpinion]

Moving Pogba closer to the opposition box is the most important change Ole can make tactically right now.

I think the present formation with Pogba taking Lingard's place whilst bringing in an extra midfielder would be best. Let Martial and Rashford switch positions freely.

 

[SweetRightFoot]

We've got shite loads of center backs and a leaky defense, so we should be playing 3 at back. We've got no good CM's (Pogba is not a CM) so we need extra bodies in the middle, we've got 1 real winger so it's pointless playing a formation that relies on them and we've only got fast, pace strikers and not one target man/hold up man/anyone who can win a header so it's useless trying to play like we do. I've posted this in other threads but this is what we need to play to get the most out of our squad.

---------Martial----Rashford--------
-------------------Pogba------------------
Shaw----McTom---Fred----AWB
---Lindelof--Maguire--A fit CB---
-----------------De Gea-------------------

Subs: Greenwood CF, Gomes AM, Garner CM & One of our 6 fecking first team CB's. JLingz can put a shift in at Wingback with his energy.

Pogba as the main creative outlet with basically a free role but instructed to stay away from the wings. Martial and Rashford stretching the oppositions back line, linking up with and feeding off Pogba. Shaw and AWB providing the width, looking for cutbacks into the box rather than crosses. Maguire pushing up into the midfield when we are dominant in possession to spray some passes or win the ball back and turnover possession quickly. The 3rd CB (Rojo, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe, honestly who cares) is essentially sheltered defensively by the defensive skills of AWB. Fred and McTom told to put shifts in and get the ball up the pitch quickly. If teams sit back to counter our counter attack, Pogba is 6ft3 so he needs to be getting in the box. This formation also allows Maguire to get forward in the final 5-10 minutes and not leave us exposed.

We'd do well with this, plays to the players strengths, rather than shoehorning them into an outdated 4-2-3-1. Also means we don't have to play Young, Matic, Perreira, JLingz, etc because they really, they don't have the skills to.

What do you guys think?

 

[UNITED ACADEMY]

A formation that doesn't have Mata & Pereira in it.

433 with Martial as a centre forward, James as a left winger & Greenwood as a right forward. Pogba, Fred & McT in midfield 3.

James Martial Greenwood
Pogba Fred McT
Shaw Maguire Lindelöf AWB
DDG

 

[MrSingh2002]

433

 

[JPRouve]

None, we lack players in key role for all formations. For the 433 we lack a proper #6 whether we are talking about a destroyer or a deep lying playmaker. In 4231 we lack a proper #10 that is an actual playmaker as a organizer and/or creator. In a 442 we lack at least one proper wide midfielder and even if you play Pogba wide, as for example a left midfielder, we still lack one or two proper box to box who are able to defend, create and control.

I'm repeating myself since 2014 but during the last 6 years our number one problem has been midfield quality, that's where everything happens in football, that's what you need to fix. If your midfield works everything works.

 

[backofthenet]

One in which we can squeeze 4 centre backs, a right back, one CM, 3 left wingers and a forward in. Cos that's our squad

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

What’s this obsession the caf has with the 433 is beyond me.
It’s like you people think its some kind of magic formation that will solve all of lur problems.
We have literally 4 central midfielders in the squad, that is all we have, Pogba and McTominay aside the other 2 are championship level garbage.
We’ve been shit with 4231, 352, 532, 433 over the last six years, the formation makes no difference when the team is poor and under coached.

 

[Foxbatt]

It really dosent matter! The manager want a unit press team. He is short a few players at the moment but He can’t keep changing formations like he did last season when he is trying to implement his ideas. But 4-2-3-1 is pretty versatile when you look at it. Without change of personnel you can change it to 4-3-3, and even go from there to 4-5-1. So many options with that formation, and so many different tactics to deploy from it.

The manager may want a team that presses but he doesn't have a team that knows what to do when we get the ball.
It's utterly ridiculous to try to play a way when he doesn't have the players to do it. He should make the best way to play that his players are capable of playing.

 

[Jaqen H'ghar]

If Dalot was ready to start at LWB and you have a lot of confidence in Axel, that wouldn't be half bad.

That's a lot of 'if' though.

It's a bit depressing . We have a squad that was assembled with no obvious style of play in mind. Too many gaps and the players we do have don't seem to complement each other well.

 

[Adcuth]

We've got shite loads of center backs and a leaky defense, so we should be playing 3 at back. We've got no good CM's (Pogba is not a CM) so we need extra bodies in the middle, we've got 1 real winger so it's pointless playing a formation that relies on them and we've only got fast, pace strikers and not one target man/hold up man/anyone who can win a header so it's useless trying to play like we do. I've posted this in other threads but this is what we need to play to get the most out of our squad.

---------Martial----Rashford--------
-------------------Pogba------------------
Shaw----McTom---Fred----AWB
---Lindelof--Maguire--A fit CB---
-----------------De Gea-------------------

Subs: Greenwood CF, Gomes AM, Garner CM & One of our 6 fecking first team CB's. JLingz can put a shift in at Wingback with his energy.

Pogba as the main creative outlet with basically a free role but instructed to stay away from the wings. Martial and Rashford stretching the oppositions back line, linking up with and feeding off Pogba. Shaw and AWB providing the width, looking for cutbacks into the box rather than crosses. Maguire pushing up into the midfield when we are dominant in possession to spray some passes or win the ball back and turnover possession quickly. The 3rd CB (Rojo, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe, honestly who cares) is essentially sheltered defensively by the defensive skills of AWB. Fred and McTom told to put shifts in and get the ball up the pitch quickly. If teams sit back to counter our counter attack, Pogba is 6ft3 so he needs to be getting in the box. This formation also allows Maguire to get forward in the final 5-10 minutes and not leave us exposed.

We'd do well with this, plays to the players strengths, rather than shoehorning them into an outdated 4-2-3-1. Also means we don't have to play Young, Matic, Perreira, JLingz, etc because they really, they don't have the skills to.

What do you guys think?

I'd be all for giving this 10 games. See how ot works out

 

[MadDogg]

We've got shite loads of center backs and a leaky defense, so we should be playing 3 at back. We've got no good CM's (Pogba is not a CM) so we need extra bodies in the middle, we've got 1 real winger so it's pointless playing a formation that relies on them and we've only got fast, pace strikers and not one target man/hold up man/anyone who can win a header so it's useless trying to play like we do. I've posted this in other threads but this is what we need to play to get the most out of our squad.

---------Martial----Rashford--------
-------------------Pogba------------------
Shaw----McTom---Fred----AWB
---Lindelof--Maguire--A fit CB---
-----------------De Gea-------------------

Subs: Greenwood CF, Gomes AM, Garner CM & One of our 6 fecking first team CB's. JLingz can put a shift in at Wingback with his energy.

Pogba as the main creative outlet with basically a free role but instructed to stay away from the wings. Martial and Rashford stretching the oppositions back line, linking up with and feeding off Pogba. Shaw and AWB providing the width, looking for cutbacks into the box rather than crosses. Maguire pushing up into the midfield when we are dominant in possession to spray some passes or win the ball back and turnover possession quickly. The 3rd CB (Rojo, Jones, Bailly, Tuanzebe, honestly who cares) is essentially sheltered defensively by the defensive skills of AWB. Fred and McTom told to put shifts in and get the ball up the pitch quickly. If teams sit back to counter our counter attack, Pogba is 6ft3 so he needs to be getting in the box. This formation also allows Maguire to get forward in the final 5-10 minutes and not leave us exposed.

We'd do well with this, plays to the players strengths, rather than shoehorning them into an outdated 4-2-3-1. Also means we don't have to play Young, Matic, Perreira, JLingz, etc because they really, they don't have the skills to.

What do you guys think?

The problem is that that formation relies heavily on the wingbacks providing the width and attacking impetus. We don't have fullbacks capable of providing that. Shaw and AWB simply aren't good enough going forward, so we'll end up extremely narrow and everything going through the middle.

 

[Rozay]

433.

The quality is clearly lacking, but we at least want to make sure the quality that we DO have is utilised most effectively. That means Pogba playing further forward than he has done, and a 3 man midfield. It also means not weakening ourselves by playing a relegation level #10 because that’s what we have in that role.

 

[Sir Scott McToMinay]

433.

The quality is clearly lacking, but we at least want to make sure the quality that we DO have is utilised most effectively. That means Pogba playing further forward than he has done, and a 3 man midfield. It also means not weakening ourselves by playing a relegation level #10 because that’s what we have in that role.

Problem with that is that the third midfield player would be relegation level too, so what is the difference?
Fred and Matic aren’t any better than Mata and Lingard.

 

[Rozay]

Problem with that is that the third midfield player would be relegation level too, so what is the difference?
Fred and Matic aren’t any better than Mata and Lingard.

Well aside from the fact I think Fred is better at his role than Mata and Lingard are at theirs - the key difference as you ask is that Pogba is allowed to play in a manner that beat suits him. As it is, we still play with Pogba + 2 average midfielders, and Pogba himself is being under-utilised. At least set up so that our one top quality midfielder has a better chance of being at his best, then the other two can try and support him to do that I guess. The other two are also playing their natural roles, and we at least have the hope of getting a brilliant game from Pogba every so often.

In the current midfield, Ole seems to be banking on the hope that Mata or fecking Pereira pulls something out of the bag for us, which they obviously won’t.

But yea, think it’s simple logic given out midfield options to try and set up in a way Pogba can be most effective. There’s little else there, let the other two just try and ‘do a job’ for now until we get better.

 

[MadDogg]

Problem with that is that the third midfield player would be relegation level too, so what is the difference?
Fred and Matic aren’t any better than Mata and Lingard.

I tend to think that Fred would hopefully end up being quite comfortably better than the other three with a run of games with a proper midfield (bear in mind almost all of his best games have come when he's played next to McTominay, whereas he's tended to struggle most of the time next to Matic). But I would say that even Matic in that role will end up being a significant improvement. Not so much because of him himself, but it should allow Pogba and McTominay to play in their more natural roles which should then improve the team as a whole. Whereas playing Mata/Lingard in the #10 makes no such improvement to anyone else, and indeed forces Pogba and McTominay to play in a midfield two that neither of them are really suited to.

 

[tjb]

None, we lack players in key role for all formations. For the 433 we lack a proper #6 whether we are talking about a destroyer or a deep lying playmaker. In 4231 we lack a proper #10 that is an actual playmaker as a organizer and/or creator. In a 442 we lack at least one proper wide midfielder and even if you play Pogba wide, as for example a left midfielder, we still lack one or two proper box to box who are able to defend, create and control.

I'm repeating myself since 2014 but during the last 6 years our number one problem has been midfield quality, that's where everything happens in football, that's what you need to fix. If your midfield works everything works.

I don't actually agree. I know our midfield isn't perfect, but I think people blame the midfield for the job of our attackers. Wingers, attacking midfielders and even strikers are more responsible for creating chances than midfielders. Our midfield gets the ball to the attackers, and they in turn lack the touch, dribbling or passing ability to make anything happen in the final turn. This has been the theme since Moyes.

To win the league, you at least have to have 5.5 and above shots per game, in the seasons since Moyes, we have never hit that mark. Even this season, I have seen our midfield and defence dominate games against teams, only for our attack to show nothing going forward. I do believe that we need fixes throughout the entire front 6, but our attack moreso than our midfield. We have gotten absolutely nothing from our right hand side over the last 6 years, mostly nothing from our attacking midfield position over the same course of time too.

For this season at least, I would revert to a 433, seeing as both mctominay and pogba prefer that formation. We may not create too much and it may seem defensive, but our attacking talent does not justify the extra security we lose in midfield by adding an attacking talent. 1-0 is far better than 1-1. Secondly, I would sign three players over the course of the next two transfer windows, 4 if pogba decides to leave. 1 in january just in case pogba decides to go, preferably the defensive midfielder as pogba staying might make buying an attacking midfielder redundant. We should try and sign consistent high quality players that can drive us forward. a high quality right winger, a striker and either an attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder or even both, depending on how ole decides to use pogba and whether he leaves or stays. Rashford James and Martial can fight for the left wing spot or even adapt to playing on the right to get more game time. The new striker/greenwood/martial should play up front, and hopefully the new winger will take the burden of attack off some of the other young players. This player for me should preferably be more creative than goalscoring, someone like ziyech or dembele.

 

[Ola]

3-3-2-2
Lets start buy becoming a little more solid from the back and that's why I would like to see

---------------------DDG
-------Tuanzebe - Lindelöf - Maguire
AWB ----------------McT------------- Shaw
------------------Fred - Pogba
----------------Martial - James

 

[Khalifa711]

............................De Gea
AWB......Tuanzebe.......Lindelof......Shaw
............................Garner
...............Gomes.............James
Greenwood...................................Martial
..........................Rashford

Yes I'm living in a fantasy

 

[Sylar]

We played 4231 today right? Im looking at our squad and thinking, who does that formation get the best out of.

If we are saying that we went with
DDG
Young Lindelof Maguire Tuanzebe
McT pogba
Pereira Lingard James
Rashford.

I honestly think, this only suits James from an attacking sense in terms of comfort.
352 or 433 would have had maybe one or two players out of position, but then got most of our best players in their best positions to take advantage.

Its crazy cos some of the best games under Ole have not been 4231.