True. To be honest, none of us know what system Van Gaal will use, but he has always said he's a big admirer of the 4-3-3 system.
As for the holding player, why can't Fellaini or Carrick play as holding players? They're complete different types of players, but I don't see why one of them couldn't protect the back four. Carrick, whilst not a robust player, has great positional and tactical awareness, and has a great passing range. Fellaini, on the other hand, is not the greatest on the ball (although I feel that's massively exaggerated), but I'm not sure how you can say he can't tackle. He's been our best tackler this season, avergaing 2.8 tackles a game, which is pretty decent, when comparing him to other defensive midfielders. I think to get the best out of Carrick and Fellaini, we'll need two dynamic players next to them.
As for the creator, in a 4-2-3-1, the movement of the most advanced midfielder is more or less the same. Sniejder is a natural no.10 and from what I know, has played behind the forward for most of his career, however, he seems to do fine in Van Gaal's 4-3-3 playing as the most advanced midfielder. Rooney has also played in a midfield three this season, more notably against Villa when he ran the game. I have no doubt that Mata has played in a midfield three for Spain too.
You only have to look at how Kagawa/Mata/Rooney play when they play in the no.10 role. At times, they drop so deep to collect the ball, whilst one of the midfielders move out of that space to create a bit more fluidity and less more predictability to our play. For example, when we played West Brom, Mata come very deep for the ball, whilst Fellaini was constantly making runs into the box.
I personally think we have got the players to play a 4-3-3. I really don't thinks there's a massive difference between a 4-3-3 and 4-2-3-1 anyway. Our most advanced midfielder will be the one who normally plays no.10 (Mata, Rooney, Kagawa).
