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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the former Norwegian striker who had a distinguished stint with Manchester United, has been appointed their new boss after the removal of Jose Mourinho.
United lost to Liverpool last week and now have only 26 points from 17 matches. They are currently in 6th position in the League table and more importantly, have often looked like a team completely devoid of any creative idea.
Solskjaer would have his task cut out and might find it very difficult initially to address the prevalent issues the club has been facing. However, United have bounced back from such slumps in the past and there is no reason why they cannot do it again.
Changing the starting formation of a struggling team does not guarantee immediate success, but could well be the beginning of something positive. United have mostly played in a 4-3-3 or 4-5-1 formation this season with not-so-impressive results. Solskjaer might do well to try a 3-5-2 starting formation for his team.
We would like to discuss 3 reasons why United should start with a 3-5-2 formation:
#1 Utilizing the good qualities of the defenders
Mourinho struggled to finalize on a back 4 for his team throughout the season. Some players like Eric Bailly and Matteo Darmian have been tried intermittently with little results. Others like Chris Smalling and Victor Lindelof have played most of the matches but were found wanting against the big teams.
United have conceded 12 goals against the top 5 teams in the league already. Playing Smalling, Bailly and Lindelof/Phil Jones as a back 3 would allow United to make the best use of their qualities.
Smalling is a very good man-marker, Bailly defends well in small areas and tight spaces and Lindelof and Jones are strong in the air. Bailly especially deserves more playing minutes as he has not been given much of them in this season so far.
Moreover, United’s defensive midfielder Nemanja Matic is not very quick at covering the ground and cannot fall back quickly enough to help the defenders at times. Playing 3 centre backs would ensure the presence of an extra man in defence who would be able to close down the shooting space for the opposition forwards.
Xherdan Shaqiri scored a couple of goals with shots from just outside the penalty box in the Liverpool game when he should not have been allowed so much space in the first place.
#2 Ensuring width and potency in the midfield
United’s fullbacks Ashley Young and Luke Shaw are fast and good crossers. They also play as wingbacks for the English national team and therefore, are used to playing in a 3-5-2.
Shaw has been one of the better players for United in a disappointing season so far. Antonio Valencia and Matteo Darmian, the other fullbacks in the squad, should also have no problem playing as wingbacks.
The wingbacks would be able to provide the much-needed pace and width to the United midfield that has looked lacklustre for most of the season so far.
Also, Jesse Lingard is no winger and should not be played as one as he does not have the necessary dribbling or crossing skills to play in that position. He would be more comfortable playing as a central midfielder in a 3-5-2 that would not require him to very fast and allow him to give himself time to play those through balls.
Matic would play the holding role and also make forays to the opposition half occasionally, whereas Paul Pogba can be the other central midfielder. This would also allow Pogba to play in an advanced role and United have always looked a better team when Pogba has carried the ball into the opposition box.
#3 Playing a faster and more agile forward alongside Lukaku
Lukaku has had an indifferent season so far and only scored 6 goals from 22 matches. Moreover, he has looked too slow to play as a lone frontman as the faster centre-backs of the opposition have owned him at times.
This was very evident against Liverpool when Virgil Van Dijk did not allow him any space in the final third. Such a scenario can be avoided if a faster and more agile forward plays alongside him.
The likes of Anthony Martial or Marcus Rashford can play alongside Lukaku as both of them are considerably faster and more agile. Martial prefers to play on the wings and cut inside to the opposition penalty box, however, in the proposed arrangement; he would have to play in a more central role.
However, he can switch to the flanks at times to collect the ball and play crosses or passes into the path of Lukaku. The Frenchman has also been reasonably good for United with 8 goals from 19 matches and should be given precedence over Rashford in the starting line-up.
In Lukaku’s absence, Martial and Rashford can play together as the two forwards.
