It’s nice to have an array for a real game. Manchester United have a real date on Friday night, our first competitive game since March 12th.
Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham will be a much tougher test than LASK, unfortunately, and United will have to take the field running.
A fully fit team that prevents Phil Jones from being injured without consequences provides manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with a handful of tough selection dilemmas.
Training
We discussed last week how a 3-4-1-2 formation could be an advantage for United against Tottenham, which welcomes Harry Kane and Heung-Min Son due to an injury.
The numerical strength defensively helps to limit the possible rust of our central defenders and Solskjaer has used this formation on a regular basis in away games, most recently in the 2-0 away victory over Chelsea, which came after a very long break shorter in early February.
Most of the top five choose for themselves, and we would expect Luke Shaw to nod left on Brandon Williams, although both are possible to play, and the first is one of the rear three.
Midfield dilemma
Solskjaer’s biggest decision is whether or not to select Paul Pogba in the heart of United’s midfield, in what would be his first start in September.
This may not be the right device for an experimental midfield, leaving Solskjaer with another Scott McTominay or Fred dilemma.
We would expect that McTominay’s tenacious nature and high fitness levels would see him ahead in this, although there is a case that United could save him for the Sheffield United game next Tuesday.
Bruno Fernandes is chosen at this point, while United is a stronger team and has a better shape with Nemanja Matic in midfield.
Put Matic in front of a five-man defense and United will be really hard to take down.
In the front row, this gives Marcus Rashford an almost free role in support of Anthony Martial, and together they should be able to cause Spurs some real problems.
United would be able to appeal to Pogba, Fred, Mason Greenwood, Dan James and Odion Ighalo off the bench, enough game changes to get in and try to make a difference in a tight game.
What if Solskjaer goes with a 4-2-3-1 formation?
In this case, Solskjaer asks another couple of questions about the selection.
One of them is who will be comrade captain Harry Maguire in the center of the center back? Will Victor Lindelf receive preference as it was before or has an Eric Bailly now fully fit and reloaded shown enough in training to prove he deserves the chance?
A question will also emerge about who should start on the right wing. Tottenham full backs have been a weakness this season, so Dan James’ pace may cause them trouble.
Alternatives include Mason Greenwood or a revitalized Juan Mata, who was really taking shape after Bruno Fernandes’ arrival.
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