What is Manchester United's best formation this season?

4-3-3:

Switch to a 4-3-3 relegates Rooney on to the bench

The 4-3-3 may prove to be an easier nut to crack for both the players and the manager and fans may finally get over the nightmares of the three man defence confusing each other to submission against good attacks in the premier league. There is no manager in the world who knows the 4-3-3 better than van Gaal(Sorry Cruyff), which should help as well.

Right now though, even the 4-3-3 presents many a conundrums. For one, it takes van Gaal back to the task of playing Rooney, Mata and van Persie in their best positions. He just cannot do that in a 4-3-3 where there is only one designated central player, maybe two. To add to that, there is Di Maria as well. Fitting in all four of them in a 4-3-3 is quite tough.

Carrick, Herrera and Di Maria in a midfield triangle seems well balanced. Carrick the deep point of the triangle, the deep playmaker who shields the defence. Di Maria and Herrera can be the left and right 'shuttlers' respectively, tasked with box-to-box duties. Both are very good fits for the roles. Di Maria has played that role for the Champions league winning Madrid team last season to great effect. He was the link between defence and attack.

Ander Herrera can partner Carrick and Di Maria in a triangle

It's ahead of them where the problem lies. van Gaal has no wingers and he cannot play any of the triumvirate on the wings . Neither of them have the pace to play on the flanks. This was the very reason why van Gaal chose a 3-4-1-2.

But big and controversial decisions are always on the cards with van Gaal around. There are chances he may drop one of the two big strikers and play one of them up top. Janujaz and Di Maria on the wings means pace, dynamism, trickery, lots of good crosses and great vision. Carrick, Herrera and Mata in midfield looks good on paper with Mata being the apex of a midfield triangle, the most attacking midfielder.

But for all the aforementioned difficulties like playing players out of position, dropping one of the two big strikers etc, means that it is very unlikely he will switch to a 4-3-3 so early into the season. It would also mean that a whole pre-seasons would have gone waste. And we all know van Gaal sticks to his philosophy, not to mention that fact that the 4-3-3 also presents many challenges of its own.

4-3-1-2?

It may not be screaming 'I'm a van Gaal formation'. But the least you expect from him is tactical flexibility. With the arrival of Di Maria, the frailties in playing a 3-4-1-2 and all the compromises to be made for switching to a 4-3-3, the 4-3-1-2 is a possibility. It may turn out be a bold yet sensible one as it achieves the best of both the worlds i.e 4-3-3 and 3-4-1-2.

You still have Rooney, van Persie and Mata in their best positions. You have Di Maria in his best role as the left 'shuttler' linking defence and attack. A back four of Rafael, Jones, Rojo and Shaw seems solid too. Add in a good defensive midfielder with more mobility to replace Carrick and van Gaal may have just the formation he needs.

Conclusion:

At this point, the 4-3-1-2 is still only conjecture from my part. While the 4-3-3 has obvious difficulties, the main being- United is short of personnel to play on the wings. I personally see van Gaal sticking to the 3-4-1-2 for some time. Players returning from injuries, new signings and the amount of work van Gaal will put in behind the scenes may mean that the formation may prove to be a success. But for all we know, he may play different formations based on opponents and render this article moot. Almost 1900 words later, all I can say is that van Gaal has huge challenges ahead and this may prove to be the toughest job he has ever taken up. The formation and tactics he chooses will prove to be one of the most important of all his decisions.