Does the 3-5-2 Best Suit Man Utd?

Welcome back! On the back of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s switch in system in the 3-0 win over Spurs, today I’m going to answer the question: Does the 3-5-2 best suit Manchester United?


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Instantly, this shape improved Manchester United in a defensive sense. Obviously the performance levels were much higher but transitioning to a 5-3-2 out of possession saw a very compact United. This restricted the space that the Spurs forwards had to operate in and made United much more difficult to play through. The back 5 also created an environment that gave a lot more freedom to the midfielders than a midfield 3 would have playing ahead of a back 4. This allowed the outside midfielders to be a lot more aggressive in their pressing. This added aggression also increased the counter attacking threat of Manchester United’s front two with more turnovers resulting in more transitions.

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The solidity provided by the 3-5-2 also benefited a number of players. The extra defensive body allowed the centre backs to be more aggressive and step out to engage, knowing that a flat back 4 would remain. Against Tottenham, this allowed Man Utd to marshall Harry Kane by tracking him. Raphael Varane fulfilled this role superbly, knowing when to step out aggressively and when to drop off to cover for his defensive partners. The calmness and security of Varane allowed the outside centre backs to be more positive in possession, getting higher up the pitch with the ball but also, if United lost out in the final third they’d look to step in and win the ball back. But the two striker setup also suits Manchester United’s forwards. Only Edinson Cavani has the experience of playing as a lone forward in United’s squad and as much as Ronaldo, Greenwood and Rashford can all play on their own through the middle, they’ve all shown better performances from wide areas or in a front two where they aren’t leading the line on their own.
I even think that Jadon Sancho can operate in this system. Against Spurs we saw Cristiano Ronaldo and later, Jesse Lingard, take up positions on the touchline as they’d look to receive whilst the other striker stayed central. If this is something that will persist then Sancho can definitely have an impact.

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The caveat to this is that the extra defender means you can only get a maximum of three forwards. And given that United have 7 forwards in: Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho, Jesse Lingard and Anthony Martial without mentioning Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba, a back 5 isn’t a long term solution unless there are going to be some major sales or unhappy players. However, right now the 3-5-2 definitely makes a lot of sense. In the opening 9 games of the season Manchester United had some of the worst defensive rankings and getting back a bit of grit and team cohesion is a good approach.

But what do you think? Does the 3-5-2 best suit Manchester United? Let me know in the comments below!

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