Solskjaer to implement 4-3-3 in 2021/22?

Sideshow Bob

Avatar & New Members Forum Mod
Joined
May 8, 2011
Messages
42,894
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
Would need to be a great performing DM. Seems the only way though if you want to get Bruno, Pogba, Sancho, Rashford and a CF in the side.
 
i agree, who exactly in this squad are we hoping can play that DM role!
 
Not sure why we’d want to be putting defensive shackles on Bruno but who knows might not be a solution for every game but does feel like there’s a lot of games where Utd should be getting more attacking players on to the pitch.
 
All this talk of Bruno, geezer needs to find form or he shouldn't get picked.
 
I’m sure now he’s actually been able to go more than 3 days without playing he’ll be fit as a fiddle next season.
 
Not sure why we’d want to be putting defensive shackles on Bruno but who knows might not be a solution for every game but does feel like there’s a lot of games where Utd should be getting more attacking players on to the pitch.
Well I think the point is they want to bring in a top DM so they can let Pogba and Bruno play? Against most teams they'd be fine, against the top teams they'd go with one or the other.
 
Well I think the point is they want to bring in a top DM so they can let Pogba and Bruno play? Against most teams they'd be fine, against the top teams they'd go with one or the other.

But can Bruno play at his best in this new system?
Are we solving one problem and creating another?
What happens if/when Pogba leaves in 12 months time?

To me we're moving our best player our of his best position which is a logic I'm struggling with yes he can probably play in a 3 but he doesn't really run with the ball so how effective can he be with a number 8 and his approach to tackling is normally to foul someone.
 
I've been reading real positive things about DVDB, worked hard over summer, beefed up a bit, is determined to make it work at United. Can't see it but I hope it does work out, seems like a nice lad
 
Everything he's saying is the right thing to say. Apparantly he's got a new PT to help after training and he's determined to make it work at Old Trafford.

I think we can quickly forget how highly rated he is.

Our social media team seems to love him I wouldn't be surprised if they've been given the nod that he'll be playing a more important part this season. Because they're certainly not going on like he's a fringe player.
 
Not sure on Neves in that lone holding role he's not really played that role at Wolves but I'd give him a go my only concern with him is has he get the athleticism to cover the pitch he strikes me as being a bit slow and lumbering. You have to be so clever to play that role on your own as you are controlling a huge space and you can't afford to make any mistakes in judgement your positioning needs to be spot on all the time to allow you to get to the danger before it becomes a problem.

VDB certainly looks to be lined up for more games this season which has got to be a good thing the formation change on paper would suit him and maybe he will feel a bit more settled after a season. If we do stick to the 4-2-3-1 I do think it'll be tough for him to get in the side and make much of an impact.

Pre season has been a bit of a disaster with so many players missing so hard to really tell what Ole has in his head for this season.
 
you might be right but he is an upgrade on what we have
I also like bissouma he is quick,young had better stats than rice last season,if you go with stats that is.
Could be an excellent buy forus and i thinki read would be avaliablefor around £35m
 
I'm all for adding quality to the midfield if we could afford it I'd be trying to buy two new centre mids and move on Matic but obviously money is tight at the moment so it's hard to do.
 
Well thats all to do with our board
Any other club would have gotten rid of jones,perriera,etc long ago and that would have freed up a lot of money
They think we must get a fee instead of looking at the long term and thinking we can save on the wages over several years
If we can get £50m for showpony then our spend is only £63m and surely we have another £30-£40m to get that elusive defensive midfielder.
I just think a dm is the missing piece as we have built a very good squad over the last few seasons
 
Easy to say but Chelsea still have a load of players on big money that they can't shift Drinkwater, Bakayoko etc think it's a problem for all clubs at the moment the transfer market is pretty stagnant so selling off squad players is tricky.

Just a situation in modern football clubs seem very reluctant to allow players to leave on free transfers even if they are fairly average players.

While McTominay and Fred did a decent job in that midfield last season I think we all know that neither is really a world class option that needs to be addressed over the next few windows really
 
So where did this apparent new progressive approach go? We’ve done exactly the same in our first two games. Sure it worked against Leeds but against Southampton we needed a little more attacking verve from our central midfield. Fred does get forward but he doesn’t have little bit of extra spark where it really matters. And well Matic was just bad. I wonder if we can slot VDB in next to Fred or McTominay. He has that little bit extra skill that could work but again Ole doesn’t seem to fancy him. If we don’t play him then we may as well just cut our losses and sell.
 
I mean there's 2 reasons for it in my opinion.

1. Without bringing in that DM there is no way for Ole to implement the system. Which then begs the question why haven't they gone and signed one?

2. Ole was never going to change system to be more attacking. Why? I'm not sure he has it in him.
 
Did Ole ever actually say he was going to change the system?

We might still see a different style in some games against teams that park the bus but in these opening two games against high energy pressing sides he was never going to play it. I'd probably argue that the 4-3-3 makes us more defensive that the 4-2-3-1 does as it pulls Bruno further away from the opponents goal.

Right now that midfield is this teams achilles heal I think Ole has solved two problem areas but we all know there are others. He's put a lot of his transfer money into the defence and attack but the midfield has been neglected. He clearly doesn't fancy VDB, he doesn't trust Pogba in the 2 and he probably knows Matic is going to struggle with the speed of games.

I don't think this is a system issue it's a personel issue the 2 midfielders we play in those spots just aren't good enough and yesterday they were both poor and unless new players arrive who are of a much higher quality the midfield will remain a problem for us.
 
Ole never and would probably never say he needs to change the system.

I wonder if having Varane back there will allow to have Pogba or VDB in the centre alongside Fred or McT. The defence is short of pace in the middle so I think having Varane will add so much to the team.

McT may not be in the very top level but by gosh we missed him yesterday. Would have rather had him as a one rather than Fred and Matic as a two.
 
Half the problem is just Fred was terrible. Yes having McT would have helped but Fred isn't going to play that badly again this season. If you get a normal level of performance out of him we'd win that game. We'd have been better off with 10 on the pitch and Fred just not playing it was that level of shocking.
 
Think we know Fred will though because it's what Fred is every 10 games he throws in an absolute stinker where he can't pass or just constantly fouls the opponent when he doesn't need to.

Think people get a little bit to obssessed with systems and formations now to me the biggest issue for the Utd midfield is a lack of quality the lads we have can't really function in a 2 man midfield as they're just not good enough all round footballers.

Pogba is a defensive liability unless you have Kante to put with him you are taking big gambles putting him in there. We've seen that over 5 seasons we don't need a 6 season to know that he struggles in that position.
VDB just a waste of time at this point, have to wonder why he was ever signed for me the worst signing of the Ole era and I include Dan James and Alex Telles in that.
Matic just to old his best days are years and years behind him now and should never have been given a new contract should have been sent to Inter with the rest of the bomb squad when we had the chance.
McTominay for me a good all round centre mid but he's good not great.
Fred see above a good but not great player who throws in some absolute howler performances a few times a season.

If Fred/McTominay were your two lads on the bench coming in every now and again for the starters no problem but when they are starting most weeks you're going to have problems.
 
Think we know Fred will though because it's what Fred is every 10 games he throws in an absolute stinker where he can't pass or just constantly fouls the opponent when he doesn't need to.
The opening 25 minutes yesterday was the worst Fred has ever performed for us. It was like he was a fan that had won a competition and had been given a chance on the pitch. There were passes to Southampton players, there were passes to the centre of the pitch to no one. There were passes that went off for goal kicks and there were times he just flat out booted it off for a throw in when attempting a pass. It was comical. He'd have looked in place at a Dorking Wanderers game and probably been subbed off by Marc White earlier for how poorly he was playing.

And you accept his weakness on the ball because of his strengths off of the ball but he was just awful off the ball too. Fouls, weak in getting the block in for their goal and when chasing back he just fell over. Even by Freds relatively low standards he had an absolute shocker. It wasn't one of his usual bad games. It was bad even by those standards.
 
I didn't see it so will have to take your word but sounds like a few games in his early days where he was awful and looked nowhere near fit as did so many players.

That is one thing Ole has sorted out the team looks a millions times fitter under him than it ever did under Mourinho.

From the sound of things apart from maybe 2 or 3 players if Ole had the choice he'd have subbed the lot of them was stinkers all over the show.
 
Tbf you couldn't fault Lindelof yesterday really. He's had a strong start to the season.

Pogba and Greenwood were both good.

The rest could have all been subbed.
 
From what I saw on highlights/read post game was basically De Gea/Shaw/Greenwood/Pogba were the only players you could reasonably give a 7/10 mark to the rest were poor.

Ole hinted at something after the game when talking about the way we finished suggesting it maybe was a lack of fitness or something else.

What could he mean by "something else"? Was he calling out their desire to go and win the game or even suggesting we lacked the skills to win go and win the game.

He put on a brave face after the game to the press but I'd hope he went back into that dressing room and made it clear to the players that this isn't good enough to turn up and perform that poorly as individuals can't be accepted at Utd.
 
Tbf you couldn't fault Lindelof yesterday really. He's had a strong start to the season.

Pogba and Greenwood were both good.

The rest could have all been subbed.

Thought he missed an easy header to get us 1-0 up just didn't read the flight of the ball and it ended up being a bit of a bundled effort from Pogba.

I'm well aware of my Lindelof bias but based on that alone he's getting a 1/10.
 

Login or Register

Forgot your password?
or Log in using
Don't have an account? Register now
Back
Top