2. …Especially in a 3-5-2
It was against Leicester City that I observed this strange and absurd strategy. The midfield consisted of Juan Mata, Michael Carrick and Bastian Schweinsteiger flanked by Ashley Young and Matteo Darmian. Apart from wide players or wing backs, no player in the central midfield areas was someone who takes players on. They ball winning midfielders like Schneiderlin, a ball playing midfield in Schweinsteiger and a creative, slow attacking midfielder in Mata.
This lack of pace made sure that the build up was very slow and sleepy, forcing Martial to drop deep, leaving the floundering Rooney up top as a sole striker. The clear need for pace was realized by the young Frenchman and he had to go past people in deeper areas to create things in the final third. But much to every United fans’ anger, Wayne Rooney was bang out of form and nothing happened.
If Louis van Gaal does play a 3-5-2, he must make sure that he plays someone like Ander Herrera in there to quicken up the build up and make the build up more entertaining to watch.