With both Pogba and Van De Beek on the bench, does Solskjaer need to bring about a big change in how Manchester United play?
The diamond formation, or 4-3-1-2, has significant benefits for certain teams. Carlo Ancelotti’s AC Milan and Chelsea sides, Brendan Rodger’s 2013/14 Liverpool team and even Louis van Gaal’s 94/95 Ajax side used it to great effect.
The benefits of the diamond are central superiority and the ability to create from various parts of the pitch – from full back, from the central midfielders moving wide, or from one or two creative players forming the spine of the team.
The weakness is the enormous amount of work required by full backs and the two flanking midfielders, as well as the enormous tactical discipline required to make the system work. The formation is probably at its best while counter-attacking, especially if the side is blessed with dominant full backs and a strong deep-lying playmaker who can get the ball moving quickly and with great accuracy.
Given that Manchester United now have both Paul Pogba and Donny van de Beek, it makes sense to shift to a formation that gets the best out of both of them. Van de Beek is a runner and can get into channels and do damage from a flanking role and has the athleticism and positional intelligence to flourish. Pogba played the role at Juventus and excelled.
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In Marcus Rashford and Antony Martial, United have two forwards with the ability to operate in wide areas and attack the channels, especially when setting up a counter-attack. But there are flaws too.
Bruno Fernandes is not a great presser. Hence Jesse Lingard was largely used when Solskjaer deployed the diamond before Fernandes arrived, for his pressing and positional intelligence as much as his creativity. Nemanja Matic is a clever reader of the game but not quick enough to play the holding role in such a demanding system, especially if Pogba and Van de Beek are getting forward.
When Solskjaer played a diamond previously, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young were the full backs. Shaw would tend to tuck in more while Young offered width in attack on the right, creating a lope-sided effect. But neither full-back pushed that high. United’s width was largely a result of the attacking midfielder and forwards roaming across.
This works fine when United are counter-attacking and looking to expose the opposition behind, but not with teams who sit deep and defend. United’s worst results with the diamond came against sides like Cardiff City, Huddersfield, Everton at Goodison Park.. Against teams who sit deep, United need to impose themselves to stretch the opposition defence by getting players forward and having a plan of attack.
United can play with a diamond and at times probably will. Tactics and systems are tweaked on a game by game basis and Solskjaer has shown an awareness of this flexibility. There may well be matches where Van de Beek, Matic and Pogba all start in a diamond, but it’s not the quick fix United need for every scenario.