Ralf Rangnick explained how he feels he has found the best formation to suit Manchester United's midfielders ahead of a crucial clash against West Ham.
United head into the game having returned to winning ways against Brentford on Saturday, with the midfield trio of Scott McTominay, Fred and Bruno Fernandes impressing.
Having mixed things up with his 4-2-2-2 formation early on in his reign, Rangnick has now reverted to a more familiar 4-3-3, only with a slight difference.
Rather than having both McTominay and Fred lining up in holding positions, the former performed the role on his own at Brentford, with the latter supporting Fernandes in a box-to-box role.
And Rangnick feels he may have finally found the answer to his burning formation question.
“The only thing we did in the end was turn that triangle in midfield around and put it upside down,” Rangnick told the club’s website.
“Instead of playing with two holding no.6s and one no.10, we are now playing with one holding no.6 with Scotty, and two no.8s.”
“We don’t even need to tell the players how they have to interpret that role as this will happen automatically.
“Bruno will find his spaces in that pocket himself. He’s an offensive midfielder, he’s maybe even much rather a no.10 than a no.8, and the same with Fred.”
Rangnick added: “I think for both players, this gives them, how shall I say, more opportunity and more freedom to play that kind of football where they’re good at – both offensively and defensively. Fred is also a player who is probably one of our best ball-winners.
“On the other hand, we’ve all seen in the last two games, how good and how important Bruno can be in possession of the ball and also defensively; he’s always working hard. He ran more than 12km per game, with the highest distance in the whole game.
“At the same time, on the ball, he is somebody who can score goals himself but also be, how shall I say it, altruistic enough to see a better-placed player, as he did twice at Brentford: when he played the ball square to the better-positioned team-mates, in the first instance for Mason and then, before the third goal, when he played the ball to Marcus.”
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