Leicester vs. Manchester United: How United Should Line Up in EPL Game
Sir Alex Ferguson would often end his press conferences with a challenge to journalists that if they could correctly predict his team for the coming game, he would donate a bottle of wine as a prize.
No one ever collected. Often during Ferguson's 27 years at Old Trafford, he had such a strong squad at his disposal that predicting his teams would turn into a guessing game.
He developed a knack, over time, of tweaking his team week after week without ever affecting the level of performance.
It was how Manchester United were able to negotiate a mammoth season in 1999 when they won a Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League treble.
It's always difficult to compare teams from different eras. How would United's treble winners have fared against the 2008 Champions League winners? Were Fergie's first title winners in 1993 a better side than his last, 20 years later?
However, United's summer spend has helped Louis van Gaal build a squad comparable in quality and depth to some of Fergie's best.
In '99 there was Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. In 2014, it's Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Radamel Falcao, Angel Di Maria and Juan Mata.
Van Gaal's options make it difficult to predict his teams. If he was minded to challenge journalists, his wine collection would, most likely, be safe.
From the team that beat QPR convincingly last weekend, Van Gaal still has Falcao, Luke Shaw and Adnan Januzaj to come in.
Falcao and Shaw are returning from injury. And if the Dutchman hopes to have a settled, match-fit team in place for looming games against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester City, then he is running out of time to experiment.
With Chris Smalling back from injury, Van Gaal has enough centre-halves to set up with a back three against Leicester City on Sunday. But his back four kept a clean sheet against QPR, and there's no real need to change.
Shaw, who played 45 minutes for the Under-21s on Monday, could come in at left-back with Marcos Rojo moving inside at the expense of Tyler Blackett.
And if Van Gaal lines up in a 4-3-3 at the King Power Stadium, he could accommodate Rooney, Van Persie and Falcao as a front three with Di Maria in the hole behind the strikers.
Ander Herrera and Daley Blind would make up the rest of the midfield, sat deeper in front of the back four.
It would be harsh on Blackett and Mata, who both played well against QPR. But that's life at a big club.
The money United splashed out this summer has bought Van Gaal six new players, and with it, plenty of options. It's also given the United manager the luxury of keeping opposition managers, and journalists, guessing.
Possible United team vs. Leicester: De Gea, Rafael, Shaw, Evans, Rojo, Blind, Herrera, Di Maria, Rooney, Van Persie, Falcao.
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