Right, so we played Rooney upfront and we played Herrera in midfield. Can we now stop pretending that he possesses this magical ability that will enhance our style of play? Generally, we looked as frustrating as ever and were losing with the personnel in that system until van Gaal changed it.
Now don't get me wrong, Rooney had a good game. Herrera was alright, grabbed himself a goal and grew into the game as it went on. But there's this word we keep using regarding the two changes I mentioned; "need". We don't need To play Herrera in midfield and we don't need to play Rooney upfront. They system isn't designed to play attractive football, so it won't make a blind bit of difference in that regard. Did Herrera contribute more than Rooney has been doing in midfield? Not for me. Rooney did well upfront don't get me wrong and made good runs in behind, but apart from that there was no vast improvement.
The change came when we started playing 4411 and playing with actual wingers and width, then we started to look threatening on a regular basis. It bodes well for the future, but do I want to see us start off with wingers every game from now on? Not necessarily, because I personally don't think it'll improve the results we get using the diamond, and this season that's all I'm bothered about, even though on the contrary, I despise the diamond.