Formation 4-3-3
De Gea; Wan Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Telles; Bruno, Matic, Pogba; Greenwood, Martial, Rashford
It is what Ole brought fame when he initially took the hot seat at Manchester United – a progressive 4-3-3 formation that encouraged deep powerful runs from the CMs, particularly Pogba. He would switch between a typical and a false nine but much of the system remained the same.
However, teams clocked onto the fact that stopping Pogba meant stopping much of the system. It is why the Frenchman has been playing deeper since Southampton in the spring of 2019 so teams would not be encouraged to press so high against him for fear of releasing the quicker forwards in behind.
Turns out, the Frenchman is the only avenue with which we play out with so pressing him is as effective as it was when he was higher up. Now though, Bruno Fernandes has come in. He provides extra impetus in attack with his constant attempts to split teams, sometimes excessively so. This number 10 role can sometimes detach him a bit too much though.
So why not have the former Juve man alongside the ex-Sporting man as free 8s, akin to Man City between 2017-2019? They both can run onto the ball, make forays into the box, play in the half spaces, move wider to combine with full back and/or winger.
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Without the ball, it would make it much easier for the wingers. In this 4-2-3-1 formation, with the wingers not tracking back, they leave the full backs and central midfielders in quite the quandary. Having wider CMs who can go out to help without leaving the middle wide open will mean the longer switches of play are the most likely the better ways to gain some sort of superiority.
Wan Bissaka’s attacking shortcomings were alluded to earlier so the right hand side would be the issue area it has been for much of the last decade. A quick fix would be the lopsided approach with full backs that has been occurring as of recent, where one full back essentially has wing back duties whilst the other tucks in as an auxiliary centre back.
Taking offensive responsibility from the ex-Crystal Palace academy player is important because a lot breaks down when he is on the ball and teams have begun to use him as a pressing trigger. Bruno likes to drift into wide positions when he plays this 8 role so he would help combine with Greenwood on the right.
Solskjaer’s other fear of this formation comes from the lack of a defensive midfielder who is comfortable under pressure, intimated as much by Michael Carrick in this interview with Manchester United’s podcast. Matic, Fred and McTominay offer their own drawbacks and strengths on who can play there but it is likely that the Serbian’s issues align better with Pogba and Bruno’s strengths.