Ideally McTominay would have a similar adaption to his role like Marchisio at Juventus. Marchisio played in central midfield, physical robustness, energetic foil with dogged determination, viciously underrated on the ball, with
stand out performance in key game in his locker. A role not dissimilar to McTominay. Following Pirlo's departure, Marchisio took on the role as the deepest midfielder. Juventus started the 15/16 season with Padoin, and it was only when Marchisio entered the fray, over Padoin that took to his role like a duck to water that Pogba had a galvanising influence on Juventus. Marchisio was historically a grafter playing the role of a deep lying playmaker. Pogba still a mezzala, but now with less defensive responsibilities with Pirlo out the picture. Khedira was useful as a defensive box to box midfielder positioning Pogba to be less of a shuttler at times. Marchisio transitioned from #8 to #6. Potentially a stretch
(given the discrepancies at the stage of their career when making the transition) , but it would be ideal if McTominay could make a similar transition.
When City made the acquisition of Fernandinho he was a defensive box to box midfielder.
In this game against Bayern he was playing alongside the designated defensive midfielder Javi Garcia, and Silva in a more advanced position making it a balanced midfield setup. In contrast to the issues when it was him and Yaya as box to box midfielders which made CIty susceptible to being overrun in midfield. Most noticeable on the European stage, Barca in the 1st half. With Guardiola, Fernandinho would transition from a tenacious defensive box to box midfielder into a defensive linchpin with expansive passing and spatial and tactical awareness. Potentially a stretch ((given the discrepancies at the stage of their career when making the transition) , but it would be ideal if Fred could make a similar transition.
I think Ole with start Matic against Spurs.
The use of our full backs will be of fundamental importance. We could be the reverse Liverpool in some aspects. Liverpool have a workmanlike midfield, and world class delivery from the full backs. The cbs also contribute with long range passes, or stepping into midfield. With Pogba and Fernandes, we have the personnel for a midfield which is predominantly creative. Concurrently, the personnel of our full backs is more defensive orientated. Using our full backs as inverted full backs will give more options on the ball for the defensive pivot, and allow the two danger men in question to advance further up the pitch. This could be particularly useful for Man Utd, as Bruno and Pogba are very direct in the way they approach the game, penchant for going for the killer ball at the risk of being dispossessed, as well as shots from distance. In 16/17 especially, Pogba would occupy areas of the pitch in very advanced areas as he knew Bonucci had the expansive passing range to pick him up. When Pogba is placed in a side overly reliant on him for creativity, he doesn't get to venture further forward to be a goal threat as much as he'd like. With inverted full backs centrally, we could see more of Pogba being an aerial threat in open play as he momentarily takes up roles of a shadow striker once the opportunity presents itself.
Do United have the necessary full backs to make it work? Looking at City, Zinchenko is a midfielder by trade, so it isn't too surprising that he acclimatised to the role. Something that couldn't be said of Cancelo thus far, whose very much a ball carrier used to operating vertically. They don't exactly grow on trees, but in a dream world United would have Leovegildo Júnior. United have players that were recently released that may have potentially been good inverted fullbacks to a competent degree, one being Blind. Now, I didn't like Blind as a central midfielder, but perhaps playing as an inverted full back may have alleviated the lingering doubts I had of him. Another player being Lee O'Connor who in purely aesthetic terms was almost like a hybrid of Lahm and Frenkie de Jong. Now United don't have the aforementioned fullbacks. And here's where I want to mention Kyle Walker. In the past two seasons, he has just 3 assists despite being formerly regarded as an offensive full back. Concerning his defensive style, he used to show the winger on the outside as he had every confidence in his athleticism. This isn't too dissimilar to Bisakka showing wingers on the outside. I don't remember his passing being particularly impressive at Spurs, but now that he's playing centrally he has more outlets than being confined to the side. It might be a stretch for Bisakka to do the same, but maybe not. There's also the issue of who provides the width if the full backs are tucked in. The 15/16 Martial would've thrived in that role I'd imagine, a dribbling specialist. It would be wasted on any variation of Rashford as he has a different skillset. James would be fine on the right, but there's question marks if he has the requisite sprinkling of stardust. Could also use with Maguire marshalling the defence to move higher up the pitch, and Lindelof taking much more responsibility on the ball.
In some respects, the prospect of having Bruno and Pogba reminds me of Lampard and Ballack. Strong personalities, prolific (assists/goals) midfielders in the offensive phase, forceful players, and have an arsenal of strings to their bow. Naturally, footballing intelligence will be required to adapt to the actions of partner. I remember when Pogba first arrived, Mata and Rooney took turns in going deep when Pogba left Fellaini to go further forward. Many of Pogba's detractors have been waiting for him to have a decisive clutch moment. Take his clutch moment against Man City for an example. In some ways, it resembled the clutch moment of
Ballack against Man Utd. One of Ballack's best performances in a Chelsea shirt. The persistent shots from distance of Fernandes reminds me of Lampard's penchant to have a shot on goal.