Manchester United are all set to entertain Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Monday night as they look to bounce back from their shock defeat at the hands of Chris Hughton’s Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend. However, with key players still missing in action, it would be a tough ask for Jose Mourinho’s men to come away with maximum points out of this contest.
It’s about time that the Special One made some changes to his tactics to get the most out of his current crop of available players. The Red Devils need to step up soon or else it could be a long and hard season for them.
Here are three tactical changes that Mourinho could adapt to get a positive result from the game against Spurs.
Go With Pace Up Top
Mourinho has often used either Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial in his team. Now is an excellent time to use both of them up top so that they have enough pace to create havoc behind the Tottenham defence. Davinson Sanchez is quick but his centre-back partner, Jan Vertonghen, on the other hand, lacks speed which United could look to exploit. Maybe, playing Juan Mata in a number 10 role so that he can feed some chances for the attacking trio of Rashford, Martial and Romelu Lukaku is the way to victory for Mourinho’s side.
Change His Team’s Formation To Get The Best Out Of His Players
The United faithful have often seen Mourinho opt for his favoured 4-3-3 formation. However, it did not work against Brighton so Mourinho had to change it to a more fluid 4-2-3-1 formation in the second half, and it paid dividends as United managed to win that half.
Hence, starting with that formation could be the way to go if the home team are to succeed against Spurs on Monday night.
Tweak His Backline
Man United’s centre-back pairing of Eric Bailly and Victor Lindelof have failed to keep a clean sheet so far this season. So dropping one or both of them and giving Chris Smalling or Phil Jones a chance in the first-team could see the Red Devils keep things tight at the back once again.
Some changes would only freshen things up at the back and it is clear that the current centre-halves are lacking in confidence and might need some time on the bench to get their head back in the game.
