Summer transfer window - 2016

I genuinely think Martial may develop more as a wide player or just an all round attacker. Rashford for me looks a real out and out striker. I actually wouldn't be against going back to a 4-4-2 either and having them both play as strikers. It's coming back and becoming more successful again. Styles of play and formations come and go on a regular basis and a few teams have shown this season that playing 2 up top successfully is doable.

What you need to have for it to work is a quality midfield and wingers. I think Schneiderlin and Herrera fit the bill of a perfect 2 man midfield but the wide men aren't upto scratch. If Memphis can find his form of PSV then no doubt he's one of the men. Lingard as the other but we could do with a world class guy if we did go down this route.

If we stick with 1 up front with this group of players then I think the combination we have now is the best possible at the club.

Lingard could be perfect for that left sided midfielder role.

Stuff Barkley :lol:

So Kante and Drinkwater are 2 top class midfielders, comparable to Pogba and Modric after 1 good season? I think the profiles of both Schneiderlin and Herrera would work as a 2 man midfield in a 4-4-2. They have a great balance between attack and defence, both have energy and can play football. No doubt we're lacking a winger on current evidence but you just never know what Memphis will turn up next season..

And the 4-2-3-1 is just a variation on a 4-4-2 anyway. 2 wingers with one forward playing just behind the other.

I'm definitely in favour the 4-3-3 as I have been all season and can't quite understand why LVG has completely abandoned it despite it producing our best results last season and him buying the perfect players to fit into it. But I'd like to think of ways to get Martial/Rashford playing as a front 2 as I really think they could strike up a hell of a partnership and be pretty devastating.

What about the 4-2-2-2 he played against Watford earlier in the season? I actually think that formation worked really well and Memphis produced one of his best performances to date. Get Shaw back at left back with Varela on the right to provide the width. Look something like this:

If it was up to me I'd be going for the 352. Shaw/Blind/CBJ and Valencia/Darmian/Varela as wingbacks. Might need to add a CB in this case, and then you'd be able to play both Martial and Rashford and would also be able to give young midfielders a chance - like Pereira, and even put Lingard in there.

But yeah, ultimately the 433 has been the one where we've had our best performances so I don't understand why Van Gaal persists with 4231...I understand when we had 20000 injuries, but now with an almost fit squad it seems a waste

3-5-2 didn't work for us so far but it is an upcoming tactic in recent years. works well with the right players like Alaba for example.

quick defenders with an eye for a pass. Blind lacks the pace, otherwise he'd be suited to play that. Also very good wide players are needed who can attack and defend. Think we do not have that. Shaw maybe if he improves on the attacking side.

There are so many things we don't understand with Louis, not playing 4-3-3 and playing Fellaini ahead of Schneiderlin is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yeah as it stands there's no doubt the wingers we have haven't proved themselves capable of playing in a 4-4-2. Plenty of teams are proving that dominating possession isn't the be all and end all though.

As I said styles in football come and go on a regular basis and for me, besides Barca and Bayern there's no other top team that is too convincing with dominant possession. Just look at Wolfsburg v Madrid on Wednesday and even Barca v Madrid last weekend.

Powerful and quick direct attacking football is what we were always about and the style I find most exciting to watch and to be honest the style that suits the Premier League more than anything. Obviously the better sides tend to dominate possession anyway so in most games we had more possession under Fergie but we were not afraid to relinquish possession as we were so devastating on the counter. Some of my favourite United performances and even some of the best United goals of the past have come when playing on the counter.

I definitely think we should experiment with narrower formations in the summer as I do believe there's the potential at this club to be able to play that way effectively because in Luke Shaw we have one of the best attacking left backs around. Varela has shown great quality going forward as well, although he's still a little suspect defensively. We've got a top quality holding mid to anchor the midfield in Schneiderlin. We have a number of players capable of playing at the tip of a diamond effectively as well which would just leave us needing to find a mobile, aggressive partner for Herrera to play in between the 2. Even try out the likes of Lingard or even Rooney there. Then you've got the speed of the front 2, who will run the channels all day.

Plenty of options out there, even with the squad we have now. Which highlights the biggest problem with the manager for me, the fact that we've been poor all season yet he's not had the bottle to try anything different. And when he did, like the Watford game, which I actually thought we played quite well in, we never see it again.