Manchester United's New Front 3 Could Be Key to the Rest of Their Season

During the first half of Manchester United vs. Watford on Wednesday night, it seemed the wheels had come off Louis van Gaal's recent upturn in fortune. Nothing United seemed to try came off. Barring Morgan Schneiderlin's fine volley, there was hardly even a near miss to speak of.

Then came the key tactical switch, which so changed the game that Van Gaal should consider it his first-choice option for most of the rest of the season.

For the first half, the balance of United's side looked awful, with their back four most obviously affected. Timothy Fosu-Mensah put in a couple of impressive tackles but got himself a yellow card with a challenge that belied his inexperience. Marcos Rojo looked to be struggling to readjust to the pace of first-team football after his long lay-off.

Guillermo Varela, having been in fine form of late, was all over the place, missing his three attempted first-half tackles and completing just 71 per cent of his first-half passes.

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None of those players, though, was as poor as Daley Blind, who had a truly terrible half. He misplaced fully 29 per cent of his passes in the first 45 minutes—a remarkable number for a player renowned for the quality of his distribution. His positioning was shambolic, and Watford had eight shots during that time, five of which came from inside the box.

A combination of attacking profligacy and David De Gea ensured United held the Hornets to a relatively undeserved 0-0 scoreline by half-time.

Then came the switch that made so much difference. Van Gaal started the game with Memphis Depay on the left, Marcus Rashford in the middle and Anthony Martial on the right. Martial replaced Jesse Lingard in the team as a way of accommodating Rashford, undroppable following his four goals in two games.

In the first half, it did not look like a sacrifice worth making. Memphis laboured to try to make something happen—though he ended up falling back on the trying-too-hard-to-make-something-happen style of play that has practically defined his season. Rashford could not get into the game. Martial was far from his best.

That has been a common theme for the Frenchman when he has been moved out to the right—it was evident in United's loss to Sunderland on February 13. Memphis came on, and Martial switched from left to right in that game, which quietened him down significantly.

At half-time Van Gaal took the decision to switch Rashford and Martial, and it changed the tone of the game. From being behind in the shot count by six to eight in the first half, United had eight shots to Watford's five in the second. Rashford completed five successful second-half dribbles where Martial had not completed any in the first half.

Martial led the line and stretched the play, and while the defence still looked shaky, at least it seemed the Red Devils had become an attacking threat. Juan Mata's brilliant free-kick was worthy of winning any game.

Van Gaal can count himself fortunate United earned all three points. However, they did. And those points could be crucial. Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur all lost on Wednesday. Leicester City drew on Tuesday.

The gap to the top four is just goal difference, though Manchester City in fourth do have a game in hand. Having just beaten Arsenal, United still have the opportunity to take points off Leicester, Spurs and their archrivals City before the end of the campaign.

Of course, United's vulnerability against Watford and their inability to create and convert chances against the Hornets spoke once again to the inconsistency that has been ever-present under Van Gaal.

However, they emerged with all three points in spite of that, and though it may have been happened upon by accident, they also emerged with an attacking lineup that few opponents will relish facing.

Remarkably, Van Gaal and United still have a chance to make something of their season. Memphis, Martial and Rashford playing left, centre and right respectively could be the key to that.

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