With the so-called Bomb Squad more or less gone, creativity merchants added to the squad, Benjamin Sesko filling the void after Rasmus Højlund and Belgian shot-stopper Senne Lammens ready to pick up the gloves, United seem strengthened in at least some areas compared to what manager Ruben Amorim himself labelled a “disaster season”. However, there are still huge challenges quite literally in the middle of the park.
The Portuguese manager of Manchester United seems to live and die by his 5-2-2-1-system, or however you want to put the numbers. It even carries some similarities to the traditional W-M-formation. Two wing-backs, three centre-backs, two dynamic defensive midfielders, two inside attackers and a striker up top is the recipe of Ruben Amorim whatever the occasion and opposition; it doesn’t matter if it’s title hunters Arsenal or League Two outfit Grimsby Town.
Not impressive traditions
Not often has the Premier League title been won by a side with five at the back. Manchester City have experimented with a range of tweaks unusual from a traditional back four, and in 2016/17 Chelsea applied a 5-2-2-1 system quite similar to what Amorim is trying to figure out at United these days. However, Nemanja Matic and (particularly) Ngolo Kanté in the double pivot had a dynamism and defensive solidity second to none. United, in the current state, are vastly lacking those attributes.
Double trouble in the middle
With a range of four players who will battle to play in the double pivot, the options are simply insufficient. The Carlos Casimiro at the peak of his powers at Real Madrid could’ve possibly featured in such a system. The current Casimiro can’t, as his legs are not what they used to be. Manuel Ugarte is yet to impress to the level we expected, and doesn’t seem capable of excelling in the role either.
Academy graduate Kobbie Mainoo seems to be more of a ball carrier than a ball winner, and ball distributor. His balance and ability to drift past players on the ball is a wonderful watch, but not very useful in the role of which he can play. The final option is Bruno Fernandes, the deeply passionate captain who’s carrying his side on a weekly basis. However, his defensive flaws are not sufficiently covered in the 5-2-2-1 double pivot. For all his efforts put in, he doesn’t have the capacity to track players around him consistently enough for the entire team to rely on in. A glaring example was spotted when former Arsenal wonderboy Emile Smith-Rowe breezed out of Fernandes’ reach and equalised for Fulham at Craven Cottage.
Neither was it coincidental that the equaliser came just minutes after Mason Mount went off for Manuel Ugarte. Mount probably isn’t the one who shoots the hardest, dribbles the most players or scores the most goals, but at least he adds dynamism, intelligence and numerical benefits to a midfield that desperately needs more that two full-blood attackers who run in either direction.
Anyway, United really should’ve signed another central midfielder to make the 5-2-2-1 work optimally, but for the one reason or the other decided not to. The ghost of that midfielder will probably show up and haunt United for the rest of the season, and might ultimately even cost Ruben Amorim his job.
Even Van Gaal changed…
If we look at it historically, United have rarely played five-at-the-back systems. Ferguson never did it, and the only manager who really gave it a proper shot was a stubborn Dutchman who once won the Champions League with Ajax. However, even Louis van Gaal had to revert from a 5-3-2 to a more traditional back four. That won him the FA Cup, but at the same time ultimately cost him his job due to uneventful football and unexciting results.
… but still lost his job
Ruben Amorim is going down a different road in terms of excitement; the football is very entertaining at times with some great attacking combinations being put on show just after the summer break. However, in terms of the decisive tactical choice of four or five defenders he went the same way as Van Gaal. Whether it’s his lack of backing to get a midfielder or two or his stubbornness to play 5-2-2-1 at absolutely all costs is dependent on which way you look at it, but it really is a fair chance it will take him down the same path as Louis van Gaal.
By Nicolas Berg