Manchester United’s condition continues to be pretty concerning as they drew with FC Twente at home in a Europa League match on Wednesday, 25 September. The Red Devils have now won only three of their seven matches so far this season.
Barring its 7-0 win over Barnsley at Carabao Cup, United has scored six goals in six matches this season, which is a pretty modest return for a club of its stature. The situation calls for a change in formation for Erik ten Hag’s men, but they do not seem to be in a position to do that.
Manchester United Cannot Return to 4-4-2 Formation
Sir Alex Ferguson used the formation extensively during the 1990s at Manchester United and was quite successful with it. Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke formed a great partnership upfront and were later replaced by Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær.
Ten Hag’s team has two young forwards in the form of Rasmus Højlund and Joshua Zirkzee. They could be used as a pair upfront, but the other aspects of the team do not allow the Red Devils to switch to that formation.
United has been using a 4-2-3-1 formation under ten Hag, but switching to a 4-4-2 will mean that it will be vulnerable in its defence. If Bruno Fernandes plays with Kobbie Mainoo in the central midfield, it will make things too easy for the opposition to slice through United’s defence.
Moreover, Sir Alex’s team had a wonderful crosser of the ball in the form of David Beckham, who played on the right flank. The current Manchester United team does not have a crosser of that quality and might be forced to play Marcus Rashford on the right if it decides to play with a 4-4-2 at all.
Rashford is much more comfortable cutting inside from the left flank and also does not have the tactical discipline to play as a right-sided midfielder. The same goes for Amad Diallo, too, who prefers to cut in with his left foot. Playing Rashford on the left and Amad on the right might work in a 4-2-3-1, but not in a 4-4-2, as the crossing ability and defensive acumen are missing for both of them.
Hence, another alternative for ten Hag could be to play Bruno Fernandes as the right-sided midfielder to use his crossing abilities. Mainoo and Christian Eriksen could then be used as two holding midfielders in the middle of the park.
However, it is quite doubtful whether Fernandes has the tactical discipline to play on the right either. He obviously prefers to play at the centre and roam around in a much larger area.
In such a scenario, United can only experiment with a 3-2-4-1, as it has done this season with Diogo Dalot as an inverted full-back. With the correct set of players, the 4-4-2 could have been a viable option for the club, but that does not seem to be the case at the moment.
Hence, it seems that Højlund and Zirkzee can only play alternately for the Red Devils at the moment. It will affect Manchester United’s goal-scoring threat, but the team will have to deal with it. It remains to be seen whether ten Hag comes up with anything new in the upcoming matches.