Your Taxi 🚖 has 4 seats....

We seem to have been operating a round pegs in square hole policy.... Failing wingers at full back, Young upcoming centre forwards on the wing, how about signing or promoting natural wingers and maybe we would see the best of Martial and Rashford through the middle.

comment by Ed The King Woodward (U10026)
posted 3 hours, 44 minutes ago
It depends on the player, to be honest. I don’t think you can just claim a number 10 doesn’t suit those players just on the basis of the position, rather than the qualities of said players.

Ole may not even want one, however. Especially given what’s available in the market.
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If we're playing with a ten in behind a nine, you've got Rashford and Martial either up top or playing in more constrained and disciplined deeper, wider roles. Either way, I just don't see Rashford or Martial - naturally pacy players who like to run at defenders and in the channels - suiting what would be a more rigid 4-2-3-1. The alternative would be going back to ceding possession and playing a fast break game, and I don't think anyone really wants to see that as our default mode.

And do you really want to see any of Fred, Matic or McTominay playing in a two man midfield?

comment by San Miguel (U1449)
posted 18 hours, 26 minutes ago
Lack of Ability car:
Lukaku
Matic
Lingard
Young

Disability car:
Jones
Bailly
Sanchez

$hit attitude car:
Martial
Pogba




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Is this the car for Jones, Bailly and Sanchez?

https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1AWFC_enGB733GB733&biw=1366&bih=657&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=2__jXN3CNcyaa_eVsqAO&q=turquoise+car+80%27s&oq=turquoise+car+80%27s&gs_l=img.3...3716.8354..8593...0.0..0.69.282.5......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......0j0i30j0i5i30.SQXBt8quiPo#imgrc=PhBPTSgHZWc9PM:

Martial doesn’t suit playing football right now so we have issues however we set up.

But I think a number ten with good dribbling and playnaking skills can suit them providing they improve their off the ball work - and this is the case with or without a number 10.

Matic is best playing in a midfield 2 and Fred played in one for Shakhtar with an attacking mid in front of him. Formations aren’t that big an issue here, it’s more that hey look shiiiiit in a United shirt.

You get far too fixated on formations and semantics of player positiing, and what they mean for certain players, in my opinion, rosso. They don’t have to be rigid either, and if they are then that’s a problem the coaching staff have placed on the squad - most of the top sides don’t play with rigid formations, especially with the ball.

The market will dictate anyway. If we lose Pogba, we will need to bring in a player with goals and creativity. So it may be a void that needs filling by an attacking midfielder. The squad needs restructuring anyway, so if it has to be restructured around that type of player I’ve no issue with that - it’s not as if our current set up is particularly successful.

I wouldn't be terribly against seeing a player used as a central pivot behind a front two, but I'd still want to see a midfield three in behind (so, basically the diamond we've used on occasion in recent months).

That midfield three is so, so valuable in the modern English game unless you have *exceptional* midfielders with superb engines or you're prepared to play without the ball. I cannot countenance us going back to playing with a two.

There's a reason why City, Liverpool and Chelsea default to a three man midfield and Poch prefers to play that way.

Poch usually plays an attacking mid ahead of two centre mids, though. Klopp often played with Coutinho in midfield but worked the midfield around him to great success, and tried to sign Fekir as a replacement.

City’s set up is completely unique in that they often play with only one actual central midfielder. But even then Pep’s shown flexibility and used Gundogan in along with Fernandinho. They’ve all shown flexibility in their formations and positioning of players since they’ve been in England.

Like I said, you get too hung up on it. How the players compliment each other within the style of play the team plays is important. The formation doesn’t dictate that in the way you suggest it does, especially when they aren’t rigid formations, it’s the players that dictate it.

To be fair Dazza, you're picking the exceptions to counter my point.

Coutinho is gone, and ask Liverpool fans whether they think they look a better side without him.

City do play with a three man midfield most weeks (albeit not using orthodox central midfielders - but they both play the role) and they tend to look better when they do.

I can deal with flexibility. It's necessary. I recognise that.

But there's great structure in this Liverpool side. Great structure about City. Pep doesn't let his players just run about wherever they want - they receive very detailed instructions. And we know very well about Sarri's Chelsea, with and without the ball.

I agree absolutely about players complementing each other, and the need to have the right group of players (rather than individuals) to play the way you want to play. That might be Ole's biggest challenge.

But the areas in which you have your players operate on the pitch and their relative positions (just as important IMO) with and without the ball is important, and will naturally suit certain modes of play.

They aren’t exceptions, they are examples of the very same teams you’ve mentioned using a different set up. Liverpool aren’t better because Coutinho left meant the midfield improved. They are better because they signed a quality keeper, cb and their two full backs have come on leaps and bounds - Fabinho has also offered their midfield something that was lacking.

Sarri’s Napoli played with an attacking midfielder, his Chelsea team do they are just shiiiit at attacking.

I agree with the rest, but that’s what I’m saying about the framework of the team with an attacking mid (City actually play with 2). Coutinho’s an interesting one to not as well, because he’s an attacking mid that picks up many of the same positions that Pogba does. But then you have other attacking mids that are more comfortable off the right or more central.

If you have a plan as to how this can be meshed together with an attacking midfielder then the midfield can function well. And yes you can play a three man midfield with an attacking midfielder (as Pep has shown with 2). If your players and coach are good enough that’s the most important thing. We could be better or worse sticking with the current set up or changing it. We can’t know until we’ve had the chance to shape the team with new players.

Maybe we're a little stuck on semantics here.

I'm not arguing that you can't play with an attacking midfielder or midfielders stationed higher up. Pogba is one, and plays as one when we play with a midfield three, clearly. Chelsea do, as you've point out, play with an attacking midfielder who like Pogba plays wider and as part of a three. City play, nearly every week when everybody is fit, with two of them.

*But* they're all number eights. Neither City, nor Chelsea, nor Liverpool, play with a recognisable ten, sitting centrally as a fulcrum in behind the striker. (I am ignoring Liverpool's plan B approach and City working around injuries here, because they are true exceptions.)

Spurs do on occasion, granted, but for me, usually look more dynamic with two inside forwards supporting Kane.

And there's a massive difference. Pogba can be a brilliant eight. We know that; he's demonstrated it. What I've never seen is him do anything when played centrally in behind a striker. Ole tried it a few weeks ago and it resulted in our worst 45 mins of football this season.

Ozil or Coutinho, on the other hand, I wouldn't waste at eight. Those fellas should be playing along the supporting line, ideally centrally, and close to their forwards. They are your archetypal modern day tens.

Yeah, to be fair, it was another point I made about semantics. The archetypal number 10 isn’t really a thing nowadays given how teams use their midfield to press. Attacking mid is a vague description because there are many that fall under that category that have different styles and functions in a team.

None of this really matters much until we know what style of midfield Ole wants to build. He may want to emulate Liverpool and Spurs’ midfields which are more graft than craft, or looking more to what City or Chelsea are doing - both have their merits in a successful team.