popularised by platin's juventus side, I think we have the personnel to make this work.
On the right, you need someone who understand the role of a right winger and a right back and Valencia epitomises that. You need a solid ball playing sweeper, which Lindelof COULD end up being (plus the protection he'd get from Rojo and Bailey would be ideal) and Luke shaw might never prove this but he is capable of dominating a flank IMO. The midfield picks itself, and mkhitaryan in his number 10 role that's probably his most effective.
Thoughts?
It's an interesting proposition, however, Italy and Juve had one-man flank Cabrini on the left, who was a great threat going forward, with a cracking cross on him. Likewise Conti on the right for Italy, with his trickery and industry. As solid as Shaw and Valencia are, with the requisite dynamism and industry, they do lack that bit of edge on the offensive front which will only be exacerbated without support from the flanks - be it a winger or an inside-forward. Likewise, Lindelof is still settling in and does look a wee bit shaky and passive on the ball as of now. In time I hope he matures into a fine ball-playing defender but imposing such a critical and a demanding role on him could prove to be too much for him to handle. Even in the match against Real, we utilised Lindelof as the RCB with Darmian tucked in on the left and Smalling as the central defender. Perhaps Bailly or Smalling as the CB in your proposed set-up, with Darmian as the RCB could be relatively better, as of now.
It would be interesting to see Mkhitaryan in such a free role, however we would potentially be under-utilising our forwards - Mata, Rashford, Martial, with only one spot potentially up for grabs. Rashford and Martial could play up top but in such a set-up I can't see them at their best.
As far as my preferred set-up goes (changes by the minute), I'd go with a 4-3-3 with a forward trio of Martial-Lukaku-Mata, with a midfield trio of Pogba-Herrera-Matic and a back 4 of Shaw-Rojo-Bailly-Valencia.
There are question marks over Shaw but I sincerely hope he fulfills his potential and finally establishes him in the first team. He's definitely got time on his side though and has been rather unlucky with injuries. I do think his pace and dynamism down the left flank could really help us bounds as we've more often than not seen Martial being doubled up on and being asked to do too much. During LVG's last season, Shaw provided great support for Depay with his marauding runs down the left (although his service was lacking a wee bit, definitely still has got some way to go on that front), till that disastrous injury struck.
Likewise, we've seen some really promising combinations and inter-plays from the Valencia-Herrera-Mata trio in the past (during that run during LVG's first season, including Juanfield iirc), and as much as I like Mkhitaryan we do need a more consistent and reliable forward, and Mata could potentially be that ideal counter-balance. Esp with that midfield trio to link up with. Likewise, a lot hinges on Martial, if given the chance, and Pogba as the most advanced midfielder but yeah I'd say this is potentially our best set-up.
