Manchester United Should Abandon a 3-5-2 Formation After Losing to Southampton

Manchester United’s 1-0 defeat to Southampton ended an 11-game unbeaten run and highlighted why now is the time for Louis van Gaal to abandon his 3-5-2 formation.

The system that the Dutchman has persevered with for most of the season has seen United register just seven shots on target in the first three games of the new year. Against Southampton, none of United’s 10 efforts threatened Fraser Forster’s goal.

In Sir Alex Ferguson’s final year in charge, United averaged 11.55 shots per game as they secured a 13th Premier League title. Under David Moyes, that number dropped to 10.42 shots per game. So it’s concerning—and reflective of the problems in playing a 3-5-2 formation—that United are averaging 9.48 shots per game under Van Gaal.

Much of the talk this season has been about the shaky defence in front of David de Gea, but United’s back line has conceded just one more goal than Manchester City and two more than Chelsea. It’s in attack that United have struggled. That’s the main reason why a 3-5-2 should be swapped in favour of a more balanced system.

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One of the biggest problems with a 3-5-2 formation is that the three centre-backs and two wing-backs tend to have most of the possession.

Against Southampton, Phil Jones (65) had more touches of the ball than Robin van Persie and Angel Di Maria did combined (60). To put that statistic into some sort of context, Graziano Pelle had 51 touches despite playing as a lone front man for an away team at Old Trafford.

So it’s hardly surprising that United are struggling in attack when the defenders in the team are the players who are seeing most of the ball.

That’s why Di Maria’s use as a striker against Southampton was strange, since his better performances this season have come from the left of midfield. He’s at his most effective when given the space to run at defenders, dragging them out of position and subsequently creating space for those around him. In the defeat to Southampton, he often received the ball with his back to goal and was therefore nullified as an attacking threat.

United desperately need to inject some pace and direct running into midfield, and so any formation Van Gaal opts to play must incorporate a spot for Di Maria on the left-hand side.

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Another issue with Van Gaal’s 3-5-2 is that, with the exception of Di Maria, none of the players in the system appear willing—or even capable—of beating an opponent in a one-on-one situation.

It’s particularly evident with the two wing-backs. Ashley Young has done it reasonably well, engaging his marker, beating him and whipping in a few dangerous crosses. Yet Antonio Valencia and, at least in the game against Southampton, Luke Shaw struggle with that mindset of providing all of the attacking width.

Shaw, in particular, would benefit from having Di Maria in front of him to overlap or underlap, which would take some of the attacking burden away from the 19-year-old. The same is perhaps true of Valencia, even if a four-man defence would exacerbate his weaknesses in defence.

Regardless, United need players in wide areas who are capable of running beyond defenders, even though it didn’t necessarily work so well when Van Gaal played Di Maria and Adnan Januzaj as conventional wingers earlier in the season.

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With United’s squad still very much attack-heavy and lacking in star quality in defence, it seems strange that Van Gaal has persisted with a system that involves as many as five defenders. Reverting to a back four appears to be the natural solution.

Whether it’s a diamond in midfield, a traditional 4-4-2 or a more balanced 4-2-3-1, United would be better served in moving away from a 3-5-2 formation.

In his weekly blog, Juan Mata opined that United’s game against Southampton was “quite slow, too tactical.” That has been United’s problem in attack this season. Everything seems too measured and too calculated, which becomes predictable after a while.

It’s understandable that Van Gaal wants his team to control games through lots of possession on the back of neat and tidy passing, but United’s lack of creativity needs to be addressed. Perhaps the best way to achieve that is by abandoning the 3-5-2 formation and switching to a system that favours United’s attacking players.


All statistics via WhoScored.com, Squawka.com and PremierLeague.com. 

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