Manchester United - How Will It Work?

Ashley Young has just been brought in and personally I think he will be used an out-and-out winger and not in the classic number 10 role behind the striker as Rooney has got that spot wrapped up, So with 4 main wingers in Nani, Valencia, Giggs and Park-Ji-Sung I am struggling to see how the United midfield and strikers will line up come the 13th of August and the start of the new season. Towards the end of the last campaign the team adopted a 4-4-1-1 formation with Rooney in the hole behind Javier Hernandez while Ryan Giggs was used more centrally as a partner to either Darren Fletcher or Michael Carrick. But with the arrival of Young and reports saying that Nani is NOT going to be offloaded... how will they fit all of them into the same attacking unit?

I can see two possible line ups for the new season:

Sacrifice one of the holding midfielders and replace with Ashley Young playing in a similar way to Rooney and being another creative spark behind the main striker Hernandez. This would make United a much more threatening team going forward with more creative players being in more forward positions but the balance of the side would be much different from previous seasons when the manager has opted for two original organised central midfielders who do both the attacking and defending and not just one or the other (e.g. Keane and Scholes, Fletcher and Carrick) And this possible new formation could see Darren Fletcher out run in midfield and could lead to United being more susceptible to counter attacks from opposition teams.

Or....

A more traditional 4-2-3-1 or 4-4-1-1 if the wingers sit back a little more, this is a much more balanced option and will allow Ashley Young the freedom of the left wing to cut in and cause havoc. It does however, mean that either Nani or Valencia, more likely Nani, will have to be sacrificed for the new signing and I thought the Portuguese winger had a brilliant season in 2010/11 and this led to him becoming the league's top assister with 17 assists for his team-mates, Nani's problem is that he does not produce the hard work and graft that is produced by the likes of Park-Ji-Sung and Valencia to get back and help the defence out and that it why it is likely that Valencia will be the winger that keeps his starting spot. The two central midfielders would be much more effective at preventing opposition attacks and Rooney and the sole creative spark should be able to create chances for Hernandez while bringing the two wingers into play, with Valencia hugging the touchline stretching the defence, Young will cut in and cause more problems, this is still an attacking formation and one that has worked for United over previous seasons.

So... what do I think?

Personally, as much as I feel Nani should be in the starting 11, I would go for the second formation and stick to the way United have played over the previous campaigns as it has served them well and led them to many sucesses. I feel that Ferguson will want the reassurance of two regular central midfielders in the middle of the park and I'm sure Young will be encouraged to drift in off the left wing to become a more central player where he could cause more damage. Either way, I feel that Young is a top signing who will hopefully succeed at Europe's 2nd best club. Whether he will do a better job than Nani did last year... only time will tell.

Matt Cooper