Maybe, we'll see. For me, we don't have the wing backs for that. AWB and Shaw are nowhere near good enough creatively wise from the flanks.
3-5-2 formation this season for United?
- Thread starter Classical Mechanic
- Start date
Aye. Not to say its not worth continuing with, but today shouldn't be used to judge it really given how bad Spurs are.
Really not sure you can judge anything playing this Spurs side, although I definitely think this setup is necessary against Atalanta and City.
We created good chances today on the break but you are right Spurs were so poor.
Bingo.
It’s like some folks would rather we have every attacker on the team in the same lineup than actually win
Yep. Never fitting them all in anyway. Rotate the front 3 between 6 quality big name attackers (not even looking at Lingard and Martial), chance at Pogba being better in midfield but there's less pressure on them anyway in this system so we aren't as dependent on them. Enough quality CBs to just make it work on their own IMO. Rotate AWB/Dalot and Shaw/Telles.
But it gets the best out of the attackers as they can focus more on the attack and less on dropping back, and they have freedom to roam. And then also we have the depth to always make subs and make it tough for tired defenders. It's 100% the right way to go with our squad, regardless of the coach.
Conte will be rubbing his hands together.
It's a means to an end. Playing with this formation and dropping off does get you some compactness and ability to keep it tight. It's what we need for now.
But I don't think it suits every side we play. I think it's going to be a lot more difficult when we have to dictate the play and Ronaldo and Cavani don't really have the legs to stretch the opposition. Spurs were in a quandary today with how to play at home in their current predicament and left us a lot of space to counter from that deep block.
There are going to be times we need greater threat from wider areas. I think the difference between us and Chelsea is they have younger legs they can consistently rely upon up front with pace and power and better wing backs.
But I don't think it suits every side we play. I think it's going to be a lot more difficult when we have to dictate the play and Ronaldo and Cavani don't really have the legs to stretch the opposition. Spurs were in a quandary today with how to play at home in their current predicament and left us a lot of space to counter from that deep block.
There are going to be times we need greater threat from wider areas. I think the difference between us and Chelsea is they have younger legs they can consistently rely upon up front with pace and power and better wing backs.
I think we saw Ole Gunnar Contesjaer today
Sancho seems to have moved into the Donny category, he'll probably barely play from now on. Sending on Lingard ahead of him was very telling.
When the game is right then yeah the formation could be used but more often than not, we'll be the better team on paper so that's where I'm concerned.
Yeah. It's weird to read. The challenge has always been how do we balance this squad? The answer is a back 5 with wing backs. Pogba has a better chance of actually working in midfield in this case. We have 6 main attackers to rotate between (and 2 more that most are OK with leaving), whether we want a 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2, and always keep freshness and quality on the pitch. There's less pressure on the midfield 2 as they have more numbers behind them.
The biggest thing is do we have the depth at CB? Lindelof, Varane and Maguire are very good for it, and if 1 gets injured we can play Bailly or Shaw back there so I think we're fine.
In the long run, it isn't going to work as it doesn't suit the make-up of our squad, which is one of the question marks I have over Conte as an option as well given how often he favours this sort of formation.
It depends on our only three good CBs staying fit, AWB as a wing-back, our 36 + 34 year old strike force being able to play and excludes a swathe of our attacking talent, including Solskjaer's star signing. It's something you'd expect from a manager arriving into misshaped squad and making the best of it, not the end result of effective management and recruitment.
However, as a measure for the next three games it may well work. We were desperate to stem the tide of bad results and it did that, so no complaints.
It depends on our only three good CBs staying fit, AWB as a wing-back, our 36 + 34 year old strike force being able to play and excludes a swathe of our attacking talent, including Solskjaer's star signing. It's something you'd expect from a manager arriving into misshaped squad and making the best of it, not the end result of effective management and recruitment.
However, as a measure for the next three games it may well work. We were desperate to stem the tide of bad results and it did that, so no complaints.
You can make a 3-4-3 to be attacking. Look at Chelsea. It's the only chance Ole has with this squad.
But we dictated play today? Our problem isn’t scoring goals it’s the defensive structure and if this helps solve that problem then why move away from it before we fully realise the potential of it all?
Look at City, they struggle against compact sides since they have to striker and are still open to pace up top. This formation suits that to the ground.
Just keep the goals out and our world class strike force will get their fair share
Agreed. It will come short against good teams. Spurs are just awful.
Though I will a manager like Conte can pull this off much better..
I'm no longer completely against bringing in Conte, we could really push for the league. This squad is good enough to challenge imo
Going to have to be 3 at the back I feel. Maybe he will revert for Atalanta, who knows.
If he persists with the 3 at the back, you have to wonder even more why we dont just get Conte in who does it best.
If he persists with the 3 at the back, you have to wonder even more why we dont just get Conte in who does it best.
They don't have to be creative, Shaw plenty fine for that role. We bought Sancho who excels in a front 3 like that, Rashford and Greenwood would both work better in a front 2/or a 3 group formation where they worry less about tracking back. Give them the instructions to overlap of course, but they're fine for it. Wan Bissaka was very good today without being creative, that's all he needs. Be in the right positions and good things will come from it.
disagree…
actually think it perfectly suits the squad.
can’t think of a single player who looks better in the 4231… maybe AWB. And Laird is tearing up trees at Swansea at RWB anyway, plus there is Dalot.
as for the young, wide attackers… none suit the lone 9 role… but all would potentially work in a 2.
and in certain games we could even go 343 and give Bruno a rest.
long live 3 at the back!!
This squad needs to play with a back 3/5
I hope that this tactic will be established definitely
You’ll never see playing Sancho and Donny again this season
I hope that this tactic will be established definitely
You’ll never see playing Sancho and Donny again this season
I suppose the only issue is the number of players you'd be leaving out every week, but there again it's not as if we've been smashing it with those players in the team. If it works, then continue with it. I like having two upfront, especially when those two are Ronaldo and Cavani
I don't think we did. I think we managed the game extremely well, we were compact.
But there is a difference between that and when it comes to a home game against average opposition and they will be looking to do exactly what we did. It's a different match, it's less about countering from deep and more about what we can produce ourselves with less space. Maybe we can rely on crosses more with the dual threat of Ronaldo and Cavani, that would be one option to combat this.
It does seem ironic that we seem to have been buying players for a 4-2-3-1 when we may get more stability with a 5-3-2.
Pretty much my feeling on it. If Ole sticks to it then it will make certain people at the club look very silly, they really pushed the Conte is too defensive and doesn't do it the United Way narrative this week; while their reason for backing Ole was due to his understanding of the United Way if you will. All very silly of course
Sancho is probably more suited to a front 3 in front of a back 5 then he is on the wing with a normal back 4. Much less defensive responsibility. Same with all our attackers. If Ole was smart, he'd rotate the front 3 between Ronaldo, Bruno, Cavani, Rashford, Greenwood and Sancho constantly. Bruno and Sancho as the creative guys, then the other 4 as the strikers. Swap them out during games too.
Donny probably won't play under Ole but he'd technically be better suited to playing midfield here too IMO. But he's behind Pogba/Fred/McTominay/Matic so unlikely.
Hey guys, we need to stop chopping and changing managers or we leave the squad in a mess full of a mismatch of styles.
3 years after spending 400m building a team for Solskjaer. Actually, I think we need to actually play 3 at the back and no wingers after chasing one for 2 summers in a row and making the club pay 70m for him.
This continuity thing is working out well
3 years after spending 400m building a team for Solskjaer. Actually, I think we need to actually play 3 at the back and no wingers after chasing one for 2 summers in a row and making the club pay 70m for him.
This continuity thing is working out well
We are rusty to this formation. But, this is a formation VDB could make immediate contribution. I still hope us play 4-3-3.
I don’t know to be honest! I just think our attack can really do damage against teams that sit in.
We get destroyed by teams who press high and we end up chasing the ball. If this formation stops teams doing that then it’s worth every penny. I’d back us against defensive sides than teams getting around our midfield and forcing mistakes
I think 3 at the back is the right choice for now. We've obviously looked vulnerable at the back so putting in an extra centre makes sense.
Regards to the front five, I'd personally chop and change it between 352 and 343 depending on opposition.
Regards to the front five, I'd personally chop and change it between 352 and 343 depending on opposition.
He doesn’t rotate players, even if they are injured
He plays with always the same 13/14
I'd still say they're more suited to a 3-4-3 or 433 type formation. Any formation where we have 3 actual attackers that are kinda left to be attackers, and the 7 players behind have a lot more defensive responsibility. A 4231 you need a balance with your wide players. Not attackers but actual wide players who are good at both ends. Greenwood, Rashford, Ronaldo are all wide forwards, very much front line players. Bruno has been a 2nd striker under Ole, another front line player. Sancho is a creative attacker, never been very good defensively but great in attack. Cavani a striker. Pogba needs more solidity behind him - he gets that even in a midfield 2 with a back 3/5 formation.
Don't see it as problem. Both Ronaldo and Cavani are old anyway so those bench can learn and step up when those two decide to call it a day. And also we can be flexible to do rotation with Bruno Ronaldo Cavani to Lingard/Sancho Rashford Greenwood.
What we did today has to be put into the Spurs context. We played vs a lifeless team. 3-5-2 cannot be our main formation when the quality attacking wide is that poor from Shaw and Bissaka.
If we continue playing a counter attacking style (which we should because it’s a style Ole knows how to coach & our players clearly suit it) then it seems a good idea to me to keep using 532.
This is the formation I thought we would have went with last week against Liverpool.
Only caught the 2nd half and one thing I really liked was how much better we were both on & off the ball. Tottenham created feck all and we looked the side more likely to score when we had the ball.
Only caught the 2nd half and one thing I really liked was how much better we were both on & off the ball. Tottenham created feck all and we looked the side more likely to score when we had the ball.
Some will never learn the action-reactio scheme... As if our opponents won't adapt to whichever formation we will play in. It isn't like we just have to find the one formula which rules the world. It is about adjusting it every other week or so. To get the most out of the players available, the players in form, the players absolutely not in form, the opponent yadda yadda yadda.
We were defensively alright today. Question is, was it the formation? Or was it Varane? Or because we did change the approach (mostly sitting back). Probably a bit of everything, question is the extent.
We were defensively alright today. Question is, was it the formation? Or was it Varane? Or because we did change the approach (mostly sitting back). Probably a bit of everything, question is the extent.
Felt like McTominay was playing a bit further back than Fred and Bruno. Sort of like a mock-up DM behind to CMs to harrass the opponent. That is different to McFred I feel. Therefor switching a player out might not have the same effect than in the midfield-two.
I like that Ole did change something but lets be cautious with predictions. Tottenham was horrible and gifted is two goals more or less. Apart from that we had one decent chance I can recall. And while we have been way more solid than the last weeks, it wasn't rocksolid as well. I guess we could also line up with 4-2-3-1 with having Varane in there plus approaching the game sitting back and waiting for counter and it might have the same effect.
Ole can try what he can because he is desperate. I honestly believe had we played our usual system, we'd have beaten this Spurs side
Varane was quality today and brought composure to the back line. I think a 3-4-3 would be better as we have wingers who can concentrate more on attacking. I thought van de beek should of come on today for Fred… his passing and ability on the ball is so much better