Former Burnley and Everton manager Sean Dyche believes that he could do a better job than Ruben Amorim at Manchester United by playing a 4-4-2 formation. Amorim's 3-4-3 system has attracted plenty of attention amid his difficult start to life at Old Trafford, and Dyche is not convinced that his ideas are working.
United's 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday was the Portuguese head coach's 15th in 28 games since arriving in the Premier League, winning just seven times. He oversaw a record-low 15th-place finish last season and now faces immense pressure to improve results and guide the Red Devils back to European football.
Dyche, appearing on the Footy Accumulators No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, has claimed that he could get more from Amorim's squad.
"I may get hammered for it, but I bet I could win more games with that squad playing a 4-4-2," the out-of-work coach told Sam Allardyce.
"People keep talking about his [Amorim's] philosophy, and it isn't working. It's fine getting to five or ten games, but once you get to 20 games, it clearly isn't working.
"I might be wrong because they've brought in three big hitters this summer, so it wouldn't work with the players they had, but maybe the new players will do better.
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"On the one hand, I like the fact they're sticking with it, and it is Man United. You're under massive pressure to get it right.
"But on the other hand, you wouldn't normally survive that situation. Amorim's been given more time than most.
"People forget that in Pep's first season, he made so many changes to the squad and played so many formations and finished 13 points off the top, nobody blinked.
"If he were at Real Madrid, he would have been sacked. But he learned and won the Premier League the next season."
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However, Dyche did praise Amorim's Premier League-proven recruitment strategy, hailing Bryan Mbeumo's injury record and Matheus Cunha's on-pitch arrogance.
Mbeumo and Cunha lit up Old Trafford as United looked the better team against Arsenal on the opening day, but ultimately fell to a narrow defeat due to a first-half corner blunder.
The pair scored a combined 35 Premier League goals last season and look primed to continue their exploits in Manchester.
Benjamin Sesko also netted 21 times in all competitions and is working towards full fitness to complete Amorim's new-look front three.