Two Changes That Manchester United Must Make Against Tottenham Hotspur

Rohit GangulyOctober 28, 2021

1 3 minutes read

As the sword of Damocles dangle closer than ever over Ole’s head, Manchester United will be travelling to London to take on a formidable Spurs in their next round league clash.

The team was absolutely rattled after their last day fixture against Liverpool where Salah and company took turns in tormenting Manchester United and put five past them in an agonising display for the Devils.

To make matters worse, Paul Pogba was given marching orders as Old Trafford erupted into pandemonium after repeated lapses from the United outfit. Their defence was simply in shambles and had it not been for De Gea, things could have been far worse for the hosts.

With Spurs en route, Ole will have to chalk out a decent strategy to make things happen. Another defeat and the sword will probably be coming down harder than ever for the preceptor.

The absence of Raphael Varane and an injured Harry Maguire has bubbled up like a colossal thorn in the flesh of the Devils and sadly, the preceptor hasn’t got ample trust to vest in his substitute players to take out an unfit captain.

In this story, we would take a look at two changes that Manchester United must make against Tottenham in order to flip their fortunes.

#1 Eric Bailly in place of Harry Maguire

Even though Eric Bailly has shown exorbitant bouts of inconsistency and a massive inclination towards injuries, a fit Bailly will anyday be better than an unfit Maguire.

Maguire has lacked terribly in pace and has been woeful ever since his return from the injury, where the only thing that he has unsuccessfully done so far is shoving the players around with zero clue of what is unfolding around him.

Bailly has a decent sense of closing down on converging strikers even though there are glaring lapses on occassions. Maybe that means Lindelof will have to play with an added onus on his shoulders in case if there is fallout from Bailly.

Focused on Spurs ✊🔴#MUFC | #TOTMUN pic.twitter.com/kIqT6nrPcl
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2021

However, Eric has been a sturdy defender and likes to clatter himself into oppositions and bring down the hammer in time to thwart any free attempts that has been in plenty against United for the last few games.

Considering the second goal of Atalanta where Maguire and Shaw seemed non-existent, Bailly would have done a better job because of his prowess in the air.

It maybe tempting to bring on Alex Telles instead of a lackadaisical Luke Shaw but the English left-back plays a dual role of attack and defence and has a decent chemistry with Bruno Fernandes, Rashford and Ronaldo. Hence, it will be wise to continue with the man.

#2 An entire change in formation

With Pogba out of the equation, United will have to produce a solid midfield to counter the belligerent outfit of Spurs as they will be challenged by the raging duo of Son and Kane. Relying on a couple of defensive midfielders will be nothing short of a wasteland and maybe for once, Ole can think of deploying an entirely attacking midfield and rely on his defenders to do their respective job.

Even with Pogba out, Manchester United has an extremely well bedecked midfield and Ole will have to think outside his own box to make necessary amends. Instead of using Fred and McTominay as the defensive midfielders, Ole can deploy a 5 or 4-man midfield that will solely focus taking the fight to Spurs like United did against Atalanta.

Working hard with #TOTMUN on our minds 🧠#MUFC | #PL pic.twitter.com/QT20LCbfjn
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— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 27, 2021

Instead of a 4-2-1-2-1, he can switch to a 4-4-2 with Bruno, Rashford, Sancho and Van de Beek in the midfield that would see Rashford on the left, Bruno and VDB in the center and Sancho on the right. Or it can even be a 4-5-1 for United with Rashford, Bruno, VDB, Sancho and Greenwood dropping down that would leave Ronaldo as the solitary striker.

The best part about this Manchester United team is that they have a fine attacking lineup which hasn’t been used to its full potential. In order to unleash the wrath of the famed midfielders, Ole will have to trust his players.

Probable lineup in 4-4-2 formation: De Gea, Bailly, Lindelof, Wan Bissaka, Luke Shaw, Rashford, Bruno, Van De Beek, Sancho, Ronaldo, Greenwood.

Probable lineup in 4-5-1 formation: De Gea, Luke Shaw, Wan Bissaka, Lindelof, Bailly, Rashford, Bruno, Van De Beek, Sancho, Greenwood and Ronaldo.