Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s appointment as Manchester United’s boss after the dismissal of Jose Mourinho came as a surprise to many across the globe.
With a new manager comes new ideas, a new playing style and most likely a new formation for the team.
Jose Mourinho adopted a pragmatic style of play with Manchester United and that’s the reason he lost the support of the fans and the board as well.
Solskjaer played for Sir Alex Ferguson for the better part of his career and was even appointed the academy coach at some point. He knows well what is expected of any United teams that he sends out in every game.
More than just the win, the Manchester United fans will expect a new and exciting style of play from Ole Gunnar’s team. They expect a team that comes out attacking from the first to the final whistle as they were used to under Sir Alex.
The Norwegian during his spells at Modle and Cardiff, he often deployed a 4-2-3-1 or 4-1-4-1 formation. It is not expected that he will change that playing pattern as Manchester United boss.
Though, one of the reasons that led to Mourinho’s stint being such a failure was because Paul Pogba, Manchester United’s biggest investment, simply failed to shine as part of a two-man midfield.
Ole Gunnar will need to twitch his midfield a little to make sure that he gets the best out of the team.
As such, Manchester United may end up playing a 4-1-4-1 formation that can change to a 4-3-3 or 3-5-2 at any point of the game.
Let’s try to break the way Manchester United are expected to be lining up and their distinct roles.
Goalkeeper: David De Gea
If there’s one position that Manchester United currently don’t have a problem with is in the goalkeeping department.
David De Gea is undoubtedly the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment and barring any kind of injury, he’s expected to start every game for Manchester United.
Defence: (RB) Dalot, (CB) Smalling, (CB) Lindelof, (LB) Shaw
When the whole squad is fit, Ole Gunnar should go for a straightforward back four with two attacking full-backs.
With Valencia and Young offering just that when fit last season, this season, they have been a pale shadow of who they were. The wingers at Manchester United currently have a tendency to drift infield and so they need to have two attack-minded fullbacks to offer the team width.
The team has two of the best prospects in both fullback positions and they should utilize them well.
Both Dalot and Shaw despite being attack-minded can also defend well and aren’t afraid to put in crosses on the overlap.
Quite frankly, the best centre-half partnership that Manchester United have had this season has been Smalling and Lindelof. Though, not the best as compared to the direct rivals, they can surely do the job.
Smalling wins almost everything in the air and Lindelof compliments him well with his ability on the ball. One thing that Smalling needs to do is to toughen up and be the leader in that defence.
Defensive Midfielder: Matic
In the 4-1-4-1 formation, the player who will be expected to play in that holding position is none other than Nemanja Matic.
Matic was brought in to play in that position and shield that defence while providing cover for his midfield partners.
Matic has proven to be one of the best holding midfielders in the game at the moment, though he hasn’t done much this season to warrant such praise.
Matic will be responsible for covering not only for the two midfielders in front of him but also for the marauding full-backs.
With this formation, Matic will be dropping into the defence when the full-backs are on attack making the formation look like a 3-5-2 or 3-4-3.
He will be the one responsible for bringing stability to the defence, so they aren’t caught outnumbered on the counter.
Both full-backs will also enjoy the freedom that Matic will offer them as they will full thrust into attack without worry of their defensive duties since they will have someone to cover for them.
Mid Field: (RM) Lingard (CM) Herrera, (CM) Pogba (LM) Martial
The final part of this puzzle will have to be on the midfield four.
These are the players that will be responsible for creating chances for the striker and also making sure that they don’t get overrun in the midfield areas.
Jesse Lingard on the right and Ander Herrera will have to cover much ground (it is something they already do effectively).
Lingard will be lining on the right of the midfield will be drifting inwards to the central area just behind the striker to help accommodate the attacking Dalot.
In case there’s any worry of the team not being balanced, Herrera will be the man patrolling that midfield area making sure that all loops are covered while also turning defence into attack with his split passing style.
Paul Pogba will play in the left of the central midfield where he so badly craves to play for him to influence games.
Pogba is not a defensive midfielder from what we have seen from him in the red of Manchester United. So, it is best to let him influence the game further up with little defensive responsibilities. He can trackback from that position from time to time, but his primary role will be in the attacking third of the field.
With his skill and ability on the ball, coupled with his physique, he will be a tough customer for opposing midfielders to deal with.
On the left of that midfield will be Anthony Martial who’ll be playing as the second striker as well. He likes to drift infield and join the attack and will score more goals no doubt, and ease the pressure on the striker by providing with support.
Striker: Marcus Rashford
If there’s one player that deserves to be in the striker’s position due to hard work and determination, then it has to be Marcus Rashford.
Romelu Lukaku has been the obvious striking option for Manchester United, but he just isn’t up to it. Just take a look at his record against clubs in the top six.
With Rashford, the team will have a striker that will chase all the balls in his path and also put pressure on the opposition’s defence any time the ball is with them. With his industry and hard work, Rashford will also be the first line of defence for Manchester United as he will press the ball higher up the pitch for them.
With that Manchester United will be a tough team to play against as they will hunt the ball immediately they lose it.
With a consistency of games in the striking position, Rashford will add more goals to the meagre tally he has at the moment. He has shown that he’s a big game player already and there’s no need to halt his progress any longer.
Conclusion
Expect a whole new playing style from the former Manchester United striker and also, a difference in how games are approached.
From his time at Molde and Cardiff, Ole Gunnar has shown that he took to heart what he learnt from the great Sir Alex and he’s now ready to implement the same at United.
