Two years after replacing Jose Mourinho in the job, even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s job seems to be on the line. To be honest, Ole hasn’t really done something worth noticing in the last two seasons he has been here other than trying to clear the majority of the deadwood brought by the previous managers. After that, the Norwegian has also had a tough start to the season, with one of the worst starts for Manchester United. They are in the 10th position after having played one game less than the majority of the teams, winning 4, drawing 1 and losing the other 3. They also suffered defeats to Istanbul Basaksehir. Even though they won back to back matches after that against Everton and West Brom, things don’t seem to be the best at Old Trafford.
The former Tottenham Hotspur manager has been already linked beforehand when Mourinho was fired in late 2018.
So, here’s a look at the possible sides he could field:
First Choice:
Pochettino never stuck to one specific formation at Tottenham, changing and shaking things up when games and form required, but his favorite (since his time at Southampton) has been the 4-2-3-1.
This formation is arguably one of the best formations for modern football, which provides defensive stability with two defensive mideos, while not taking away the spirit of the attacking lineup.
The back five would mostly stay the same under Pochettino, with David De Gea, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire to be joined by Alex Telles in the defence. Even though Luke Shaw and Pochettino have a good relationship from their time together at Southampton, which was a different young and prospective Luke Shaw, the Argentine may prefer Telles for what he can bring to the team in attack, with proven answers.
When it comes to the midfield, Fred might be replaced into a deeper role by the new dutch recruit Donny Van De Beek who could be partnered by Mctominay. Even though Donny isn’t a defensive midfielder, he can also play deeper down, the likes of what Pochettino did with Moussa Dembele and Moussa Sissoko at Spurs, the latter which can be impersonated by Mctominay.
On paper, the front four of Rashford, Bruno, Pogba and Martial will look bizarre, particularly with Paul Pogba out on the wing, who has been used there from the bench in recent games against Everton and Chelsea and Pochettino’s favoured formation of 4-2-3-1 is a lot more narrow, which would have the Frenchman playing closer to the middle two and thus drop down easily as well as interlink for passes.
With a new coach coming in, there are bound to be a certain number of players who will be in luck and some who will miss out the most. It isn’t any different here as well. Pogba and Ed Woodward might be the winners with Pogba settling down who has already been linked with a move away from Old Trafford, multiple times and Woodward, a thrift merchant might just be happy about it, with Pochettino’s past record of handling the teams with no signings whatsoever.
Fred and Brandon Williams might just be the one on the loosing side, with Fred not fitting completely in Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1 and with Alex Telles, the top class full back and Luke Shaw who has already played under Pochettino, in the second choice- the youngster Brandon might miss out on his game time for the first team.
