Is This Manchester United’s Best XI After Mata’s Arrival? Tactical Analysis

Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have hardly played together for an extended period of time for Manchester United this season, having spent considerable amount of time on the sidelines due to injuries. Expect United to adopt this 4-2-3-1 formation if one of van Persie or Rooney is absent through injury or suspension. Darren Fletcher has made a successful comeback from injury, and once Marouane Fellaini returns from injury, he’ll have to fight it out with the Scot for a place in the starting eleven.

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Possibility 2

However, once both Rooney and van Persie are both fit, it becomes a problem for David Moyes to play them together in the 4-2-3-1 formation without playing Wayne Rooney in a wider role. Rooney doesn’t like playing out wide and will be vying for a more central position, the one being occupied by Juan Mata, buyt Mata becomes a lot less effective when he’s asked to play wide, meaning that it’ll only be their starting position on the pitch, and they’ll be free to roam around and dictate play.

Moyes will have the option of playing Valencia on the right to have a consistent outlet on the right, or he can choose to go with Shinji Kagawa or Adnan Januzaj to form a very fluid attacking midfield trio, who’ll constantly move around, and be difficult to pin down which could be a really exciting prospect for the fans.

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Possibility 3

Now the problem of playing both Rooney and van Persie up front is that Mata does not fit into any of the roles in a traditional 4-4-2 formation that United prefer. So, in order to incorporate their new signing, United will have to shift to a 4-2-2-2 formation with two attacking midfielders instead of two wide midfielders.

Antonio Valencia will obviously miss out, and the full backs will be crucial for providing width when in position, as both the attacking midfielders will have a tendency of drifting infield, narrowing the play. Wayne Rooney will have the option of dropping deeper to get involved in the play, and this seems to be United’s best bet going forward.

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Possibility 4

That begs the question, however, about the decision to buy Fellaini in the summer, as he doesn’t seem to be the first choice in the formations mentioned above. If Moyes plays Fletcher and Carrick, which seems to be their best midfield pairing, their summer signing will be starting from the bench. This brings us to an alternate, however unlikely scenario, where both of United’s big signings- Mata and Fellaini- get to start.

This 4-3-1-2 formations is centered around the creative talents of Juan Mata, and he’ll be the focal point of the team. The 3-man midfield will give Fellaini the license to go and join attacks when needed, and the defensive midfielder will be able to cover for the full backs, who will once again be crucial in providing width.

Irrespective of which formation manager David Moyes uses, Juan Mata is going to be an important player for the Red Devils, and the fans will be hoping that the qualities he brings to the table will be enough for them to make a last ditch attempt to hold on to a top 4 spot.