Is this Manchester United's best lineup for 2024?
With more than 10 first team players out injured, Manchester United have failed to find any consistency for the 2023/24 season.
That could be due for a change when key members of the squad regain fitness in January.
Erik ten Hag initially tried a 4-3-3 with Casemiro as a single pivot, partnered by Mount and Bruno Fernandes as floating 8s. The experiment failed to take off and was compounded by Casemiro's absence and Mount's inconsistency. The promising Kobbie Mainoo was ear-marked for a squad role after impressing in pre-season, but he too was struck down with a long term injury just before the season began.
Faced with a run of lower table opponents, Man Utd managed to string together a run of wins in October and November (barring a predictable loss in the Manchester derby). Now, with injuries abating, Erik ten Hag will have no excuses to mount a challenge for the Champions League spots.
The team now sets up in a 4-2-3-1 to start but transitioning to 2-3-5 in the attack phase, and falling back to 4-4-2 when defending.
With a string of impressive cameos from the bench, Garnacho is now undroppable with that Goal of the Season. He provides the width high up which allows the versatile Luke Shaw the option to tuck into a midfield 3 when attacking, forming a box in the middle alongside the three central midfielders.
Marcus Rashford has not convinced this season and now finds himself on the right to accomodate Garnacho. Dalot could be more complimentary than Wan Bissaka, as the Portuguese player can provide the overlapping width while allowing Rashford to drift into the box when attacking.
After only one start, Mainoo is already being hailed as the savior of Manchester United's season. His full debut has come late but if he shows the same maturity, asking for the ball and moving into receiving positions, it will greatly help Casemiro to share the workload. The team has missed the link that Mainoo provides between defence and midfield, with McTominay having a different skill set and Amrabat disappointing so far. With Lisandro Martinez back in the new year, ball progression from the back will only improve with Shaw, Martinez and Maguire capable of linking from deep.
It remains to be seen whether the optimism permeating the club will be sustained after an upcoming run of tough away games in late November and early December. However, there is a quiet confidence that the worse has passed and Manchester United can consolidate from here.