Your preferred front four

[Yagami]

Zlatan
Martial Rashford Mkhi
​

When Mkhi inevitably drifts inside to playmake, Marcus can drift over to the right to keep the width and balance in the team as he's familiar with the position. It'll be good to see some cohesive fluidity in attack. Also, as Zlatan likes to drop deep and play killer balls, having Marcus as a #10 running on to them balls would be nice.

 

[Dazzmondo]

Honestly, I think any combination of Ibra, Martial, Rooney, Mata, Mkhitaryan, Rashford represents an excellent front 4. If I had to choose what my starting front 4 would be, I would go with Ibra up front, Martial and Mkhitaryan (based on what I've seen of him at Dortmund and Shakhtar not pre-season) on the wings with Mata as the cam. I rate Mata very highly and I still think he's a fantastic player if given creative freedom. That being said, I still think Rooney will contribute a lot in terms of goals if nothing else from the number 10 position so I'm happy enough to see him starting too. Rashford could play in any of those front 4 positions and perform imo. Very happy regardless of who plays and I'd like to see a decent bit of rotation depending on form.

 

[Brightonian]

If you're gonna play Ibrahimovic (and I'm guessing we didn't exactly get him to sit on the bench) then everyone else has to be fast and energetic. Which means no Rooney.

Martial Ibra Rashford
Miki
​

You have to use Ibra as a relatively static hub. Fast players should be running off him whenever he receives the ball, either aerially or to feet, and that way he can use his flair and imagination to put little flicks and chips through to them without needing to do too much running himself. His own goals will come more from set pieces and longer attacks where we bunch the opposition into their area, allowing him to be in position for shots and headers.

 

[Raees]

Against weaker teams..

DM*
Pogba Mkhi
RW* Ibra/Rashford Martial
​

Against strong teams..

DM*
CM* Pogba
RW Ibra Martial

DM* CM*
RW* Mkhi Martial
Ibra/Rashford
​

*new signings needed

​

 

[Kostur]

----------Ibra
Martial--Mickhi---Rashford

Rashford
Martial Ibra Mkhitarian​

Those two would be my picks. The front four in Jose's setup seems to be incredibly versatile, not really rooted to their positions in attack if they feel they can exploit some weak spot of opponent. Today you could see that when Ibra was dropping deeper, Rooney ended in RW position, Miki in #10, Martial in #10/ST and in the second half it was pretty much the same. Lingard roamed around, Rashford went right, middle, Depay #10 and left, etc.

 

[Kill 'em all]

Zlatan
Martial Mata Mkhitaryan
​

 

[Footyislife]

Rashford
Martial Pogba Mkhitaryan

Teams would be terrified at the pace and skill. Mix that in with having Zlatan, Mata, & Rooney to use when needed. Doubt Mourinho would play that many young players though.

 

[Drz]

This is my preferred XI.

I do think a true-ball winner needs to be bought.

Swap Mhiki and Pogba's position for my line up. Need Pogba to play in his Juve position, not like he did during most of the Euros.

 

[Perrick Dubois]

Starters:

-----------Zlatan
Martial - Rooney - Miki

Second Unit:

----------Rashers
Depay----Mata------Lingard

Looks like some promising cohesion finally after the last couple of seasons.

 

[CM]

I'd scrap the 4-2-3-1. The only players who really gain anything from us playing that formation are Rooney and Mata, and neither of them are good/consistent enough to justify making that call.

On the flip side, pretty much all of our midfielders would perform better in a three and I'd rather we set up in a way that allows them to thrive than players that have let us down before.

DM
Mkhitaryan Schneiderlin Pogba Martial
Ibrahimovic​

 

[Skåre Willoch]

Zlatan
Martial Rashford Mkhi
​

When Mkhi inevitably drifts inside to playmake, Marcus can drift over to the right to keep the width and . It'll be good to see some cohesive fluidity in attack. Also, as Zlatan likes to drop deep and play killer balls, having Marcus as a #10 running on to them balls would be nice.

This

 

[don't sign old players]

Lingard.....Pogba..... Martial
............Rashford.......

 

[Midfield]

Ibrahimovic upfront with the support of Miki, Rooney, and Martial behind.

 

[Cheekiey]

Ibra
Martial - Mata - Mkhitaryan
Pogba - Carrick
Shaw - Blind - Mike - Valencia
Dave
​

When all upto speed and match fit, I think this is our strongest XI, you could argue for Rooney but personally I think Juan brings more to the game at 10 than Rooney at 10. You could also argue for Bailly but we have only seen him in 2 games, and yes he looks good but Blind & Mike have a good partnership. Valencia just edges Darmian, Darmian for me needs to bulk up and not be scared to get stuck in. The rest pick themselves.

That's one hell of a creative side though.

 

[Mark McMaw]

I just wanna see rashford play up top as much as possible the lads what we're all about!

 

[cantona7676]

-------------------Zlatan----------------------
--Martial--------Mkhitaryan--------Rashford--

Very mobile and plenty of pace and all able to switch positions,
Imagine Valencia (on todays form) and Shaw bombing past the wingers putting in crosses/cutbacks.

 

[Flying_Heckfish]

Ibra/Martial/Mkhi are locks, the #10 position is most interesting.

Assuming there's no miracle recovery from Rooney, who plays there?

 

[RedRonaldo]

I don't know which one is our best front four, as we have plenty of options there.
But I do prefer pace up front, so let's at least play 2 pacy attacker, probably Martial and Rashford

 

[beergod]

My vote is 4-3-3 with Martial - Ibrahimovic - Mhkitaryan up front and a midfield of Schneiderlin/Fellaini, Pogba/Herrera, and Carrick/Blind.

 

[don't sign old players]

My vote is 4-3-3 with Martial - Ibrahimovic - Mhkitaryan up front and a midfield of Schneiderlin/Fellaini, Pogba/Herrera, and Carrick/Blind.

I'd say that's about right. But I'm not sure about alternative to Carrick. Blind/Mensah, CB/DM?

 

[Fer]

If we sign Pogba, I think 4-3-3 would be our best formation. I hope to see a team like this:

Martial/Memphis - Zlatan/Rooney - Mkhitaryan/Rashford

Pogba/Fellaini - Schneiderlin/Herrera
Schweinsteiger/Carrick

Shaw/Blind - Bailly/Rojo - Smalling/Jones - Valencia/Darmian

De Gea/Romero
​

If we are going to play 4231, then I would play Mkhitaryan behind the striker and I would sign a right winger. So the front 4 could be like this:

Ibrahimovic
Martial - Mkhitaryan - Mahrez​

 

[robinzx]

Ibra up front, Martial and Mkhitaryan on either wing. Herrera, Schneiderlin and Carrick in the middle. Pogba instead of Herrera if we sign him

 

[POF]

The club has incredible attacking options just now. Being able to bring on a reserve front 4 of Lingard, Mata, Memphis and Rashford is a fantastic position to be in.

 

[itso 7]

I'd say that's about right. But I'm not sure about alternative to Carrick. Blind/Mensah, CB/DM?

I think Blind, for now, is the safer option and lets see how TFM does in the Europa. I am also interested in seeing what Mourinho could extract out of Fellaini in midfield.

 

[devilish]

Assuming United get Pogba

---------------Bastian---------Schneiderlin----------


Mkhitaryan-----------Pogba-----------------Martial

-----------------------Ibra------------------------

 

[GloryHunter07]

Not much love for Rooney in here

 

[Sparky Rhiwabon]

Front six rather than four, but I would like to see Mourinho put faith in our best two youngsters, along with his new signings and play the following as his first choice front six (assumes we get Pogba)

Fosu-Mensah
-------------Pogba
Rashford Mkhitaryan Martial
------------Zlatan

He won't though because Rooney has to be accommodated of course.

 

[United10]

This is most likely the front four that Mourinho will start with, in my opinion.

Zlatan
Martial Rooney Mkhitaryn

I think Mata would be better played as number 10 and will likely rotate with Rooney, but Mourinho already has a love affair with Rooney and not quite so much with Mata. Rashford will probably be used to rotate with Zlatan while Young or Lingard will come in for Mkhitaryn. Rashford may be used on the right, but more than likely will only play up top since Mourinho prefers players to focus on one position.

Considering the defensive frailties of this team and Mourinho's preference to play to 4-2-3-1, Pogba will certainly be played behind Rooney with either Carrick or Schneiderlin paired as the holding midfielder in front of the defense.

 

[Devil may care]

We saw yesterday why Rooney and Ibra is a combo most of us don't want to see, both need their partner to have pace and agility, Rooney isn't nearly skillful or mobile enough to be playing as a proper #10 behind Ibra as there isn't much space and Rooney gets ran off the ball easily, when Rashford came on and stretched the defense it gave Rooney the room to play in and suck less..

 

[TheNewEra]

We saw yesterday why Rooney and Ibra is a combo most of us don't want to see, both need their partner to have pace and agility, Rooney isn't nearly skillful or mobile enough to be playing as a proper #10 behind Ibra as there isn't much space and Rooney gets ran off the ball easily, when Rashford came on and stretched the defense it gave Rooney the room to play in and suck less..

It's not down to Ibra though, Rooney as a #10 should be able to beat a man and create a chance, he's at the most important role in the team.

You need a great #10 or you are screwed essentially. Rooney stumbles his own feet, can't trick a defender or midfielder and doesn't have the pace to beat them. He doesn't have the attributes for his position and shouldn't play there.

 

[SwansonsTache]

I think Rashford could do a similar job on the right side that Martial currently is doing on the left. Having pace on one side is not enough, ideally we should line up in a 4-3-3

back four
schneid carrick pogba
rash zlat martial

But that leaves Rooney, Mkhi and Mata on the bench. Mkhi could take Rashfords place though with Rash getting plenty of gametime as reserve for both Zlatan and Mkhi.

 

[Devil may care]

It's not down to Ibra though, Rooney as a #10 should be able to beat a man and create a chance, he's at the most important role in the team.

You need a great #10 or you are screwed essentially. Rooney stumbles his own feet, can't trick a defender or midfielder and doesn't have the pace to beat them. He doesn't have the attributes for his position and shouldn't play there.

Most of us here agree, but Rooney is like a huge log jammed in United's bowel and until a manager finally puts him in the second string we'll continue to have these issues, the fact we now have two big name, high wages forwards who are incompatible but who'll both want to play is going to be Jose's biggest task.

 

[ghagua]

Ibra
Martial - Mkhitaryan - Rashford

Would prefer

Ibra
Martial - Mkhitaryan - Mahrez
​

 

[Boznich]

Zlatan
Martial Mata Mkhitaryan

Pogba at 8 Schneiderlin at 6

Unless Jose goes 433 but can't see it think he will play 4231 with Rooney at 10

 

[Seven Seas Sardines]

Anyone putting Rooney or Mata in there seriously need their sanities checked.

 

[davidmichael]

Completely depends on formation but if we play a 4-2-3-1 then it'll be Mkhitaryan, Rooney and Martial behind Ibrahamovic with Lingard, Mata, Depay and Rashford coming in.

I absolutely love watching Rashford play and watching him in full flow excites me as much as watching Ronaldo, Giggs, Kanchelskis and Sharpe but we need to be realistic with him and not expect him to be first choice or basically be our saviour so I'd rather he grow this season coming and a full season under Ibrahamovic could do him the world of good.

I'd much rather we played a 4-3-3 though with one of Rooney or Carrick alongside Schneiderlin and Pogba with Mkhitaryan, one of Ibrahamovic or Rashford and Martial as the front three which for me is us at our strongest but Jose would need to go back on what he said about Rooney in midfield.

 

[rotherham_red]

-----Schneirderlin------

Pogba--------Herrera

Martial - Zlatan - Mkhitaryan

 

[ti vu]

Similar to other but with more specific movement required

--------------Zlatan
Martial---------------Rashford
-------(Pogba)-------Mickhi
---------------DLM------------

So Mikhi and Rashford is pretty much aligned with Rashford further up to run in behind or move wide in counter. Mkhi would drift inside #10 in counter attacking.

In normal attacking phase where opponent stay compact Rashford would stay narrow like second striker with Mikhi would need to hold the wing.

In defensive phase, Rashford should do Mourinho #10 defensive work in the central area while Mickhi helped defending the wing.

 

[paulscholes18]

Mkhitaryan Pogba Martial
Zlatan

 

[simonhch]

Zlatan
Martial ___ Mkhitaryan ___ Rashford

​

I'm sorry but you can't leave Rashford out because (a) He provides critically needed pace. (b) He can beat men at will (c) He has a tremendous work rate (d) He's the form player.

Rooney and Mata have plenty to offer, but they are warming the bench for me.