17 Aug 2014 23:37:31
Seems to be a lot of talk on di Maria. But I honestly just don't get where he would fit in.

In a 352 he isn't going to play wingback, its been suggested he could play the robben role but then its dropping one of Mata, Rooney or van persie. And not solving either the defensive or midfield issues.

433 has been mooted with him as one of the 3 along with januzaj but again means one of Rooney or van persie miss out not to mention we lack two world class midfielders to fit into the midfield 3.

So basically tactical geniuses how would it work? Over to shappy lol.

1.) 18 Aug 2014
18 Aug 2014 00:01:21
In my opinion Di Maria won't necessarily have to play in the front 3 of a 433 because of the pace he has I think he could do a great job in midfield with his ability to run box to box tirelessly like he did for Real Madrid last season. A midfield of Herrera, Di Maria and Mata would work wonders albeit being very lightweight on the whole they are all players who can keep the ball well and move with pace under van Gaal's management. A ball-playing defender could constitute for the steel enforcement in midfield as they would indirectly strengthen the midfield too by pushing up with them when necessary

2.) 18 Aug 2014
I personally think if di maria was signed van gall would revert back to his favourite system of 4-3-3 so if we can land him it would be an outstanding buy in my opinion, just means van persie and rooney either rotating which neither would be happy with or fighting it out to be the main striker.

3.) 18 Aug 2014
18 Aug 2014 00:21:56
He can play how Robben worked for Holland during the worldcup as a pacey/wide striker in the 352 or, as LvG usually prefers, a 'wing specialist' in a 433

4.) 18 Aug 2014
18 Aug 2014 00:34:33
Thanks for the replies but its not answered the question.

As I said its not solving the defensive or midfield issues by using him as robben or wide and who do you drop to accommodate him.

Yes he played centre mid for Madrid, in more technical and less physical league where 80% of your opponents are playing to keep the score down. It wouldn't work in a more physical and competitive league without a de jong or Carvalho in there as well.

5.) 18 Aug 2014
Totally agree that's why I can't understand why we are chasing Di Maria when we should be doing everything possible to sign vidal and a good cb

6.) 18 Aug 2014
MRE

He has more to offer than anyone in our current team. He will make a monkey out of most defenders in the league and can play either wing or cm as an advanced midfielder.

If we signed him and let's say a vidal we would revert to a 433 with him playing on either side of the striker which I believe it would be rooney and RVp most likely playing on the right hand side and dim aria on the left hand side.

I believe the midfield would end up being herrera, carrick and Vidal with one sitting deeper i.e. carsick, one midish and one more advanced, either Herrera and Vidal could do that.

It would mean mata will not get a lot of game time imo and even questionable if Janusaj is not a better fit playing on the right of cf.

Expect to see massive changes in the next 12 to 18 months to how we sett up and play if we get the right players.

7.) 18 Aug 2014
Also as rooney is now captain I doubt he will be dropped.

8.) 18 Aug 2014
Di Maria is an outstanding player and regardless of what system we play he will bring more to the team than the player he replaces. If he plays as a CM he's better than all of our current players in that position, if he plays as a winger he's better than any of our current wingers.

As the Ed has said we are looking at 3 windows to rebuild and it will be done with the players LVG wants. LVG is not here to make friends and wants players capable of playing his way. In order to have a top class first 11 again we need at least 3 signings, a CM, a CB and winger. Following that the squad needs improved as players like Nani, Anderson, Hernandez, Kagawa and Zaha just haven't been good enough over the past couple of years to warrant staying.

Di Maria has great stamina, pace, dribbling ability and work ethic. Who else in the United squad has these qualities? It would also be a big lift for most United fans to see us spend big money ( I know it's not always about the size of the fee but it shows we are willing to compete financially) on a truly top class player, not someone who is going to develop into one.

In order to get everyone into their right positions we would need to play a 442 diamond which I don't see us doing as we don't have the right type of player to play the holding role. Carrick or Fletcher could do a job but Carrick IMO is not mobile enough to do that job on his own and Fletcher has the energy but wouldn't see a pass as well as Carrick from the deep playmaker role.

I think LVG will make the tough decision of dropping one of RVP, Rooney and Mata as he is not here to make friends. We could then play 4231 with Di Maria wide along with Januzaj then 2/3 of RVP, Rooney and Mata to play as 10 & 9. This gives us more pace and therefore less of the predictable, boring football we have played at times for the last 3 years.

Probably the longest post I've ever written on here haha.

9.) 18 Aug 2014
Whilst we all acknowledge we need a CB and CM, I would also like to point out that we are very boring to watch and need to get back our mojo and start creating stuff upfront and get the crowds going and he would do that for us.

We are by tradition a football team that has always had great wingers and the last few years have been awful to watch our wing play.

10.) 18 Aug 2014
18 Aug 2014 08:27:02
How about a 4-2-1-3 with the from 3 being di maria, rvp and Rooney, mata in behind them and fletcher and Herrera holding, that way we would rely less on the fullbacks to get forward and we wouldn't be as exposed

11.) 18 Aug 2014
If Di Marea is viewed as Cm then I think we need a very solid holding midfielder. I know van gaal has gone off him but Carvallho would be an option. cheaper, younger and maybe easier to get than vidal. Or maybe we will move for de Jong to.perform the role he does for Holland.

12.) 18 Aug 2014
18 Aug 2014 09:36:46
Signing someone like Di Maria is the difference between being reactive or proactive.

Signing someone who covers our weaknesses seems like a good idea and it will obviously need to be done. But being more solid defensively is only one way to skin the proverbial cat.

For example do Real Madrid or Barca approach a game worrying how they are going to cover their weaknesses or do they think sod it can they handle Ronaldo or Messi and co?

Signing someone like Di Maria will help the defence by immediately forcing our opposition to be less attacking for fear of what we can do to them. They will be less kean to venture forward and will do so in less numbers.

So although Di Maria isn't a battler in midfield ala Vidal or solid defensively like Hummels he will help in stopping opposition attacks by sheer prescence on the field.

As for how he will fit in to LvG's 3412 well first off you need to consider that LvG being an attack minded coach has so far more often than not played wingers as wing backs rather than full backs, he clearly wants his wide men to attack first and defend second. So there is no reason for why Di Maria wouldn't take one of the wide roles.
Secondly 3412 won't be the only formation we use over the season. In our first game we started 3412 then went 4411 then switched to 3421 so with three different formations used in one game i'm sure we will be pretty flexible this season formation wise.

And thirdly Di Maria is a very flexible player anyway, he is fast, has great balance, excellent vision and reading of the game and is an accomplished passer. He can there for play wide on either side, in the number 10 role(although we have enough of them atm), he can play as a midfield shuttler in the midfield three of a 433 or he could play a similar role to Robben at the world cup. There is no reason why a player with his skills and work rate couldn't play as a.wing back and as i've pointed out LvG will want far more attacking wing backs anyway.

What you need to remember is if we do sign Di Maria he will he totally a LvG signing, unlike Herrera or Shaw who he just approved. He would be a player that van Gaal has looked at and decided he needs in his squad to play the way he wants. So if that's the case then van Gaal who is a far better tactician than me will be doing so because Di Maria fits into his plans. So take comfort in that and then just sit back and watch what LvG can do.

13.) 18 Aug 2014
I can't see how 1 winger will make a big difference when we need a defence and midfield who are not playing well.Injuries are a big problem and we need some fresh blood with hunger for success and not players who feel nervous due to last year.rather than hanging on to people such as cleverly who is not up to the plate, get rid.Nani and the rest who are named here frequently need to go and even use youngsters with ambition rather than the same old as last year.If Woodward is so good with figures why waste it in retaining mediocre players when it could be spent on better players.I see some panic buying as last year, but I hope not.

14.) 18 Aug 2014
Manu123, it's not a case of Di Maria or midfield/defence. MU will look to sign defenders, midfielders and a winger.

15.) 18 Aug 2014
In a 3412 Di Maria (if signed) would replace Valencia, just like Cuadrado would have done. Valencia being his cover. I wouldn't be surprised to see Di Maria move to Mata's position (similar to Sterling's position at Liverpool) with Van Persie & Rooney ahead of him to add speed centrally on occasion, with Valencia/Young as the RWB. And if Rooney or Van Persie are injured or rested there is no reason why he couldn't play a Robben role in the Dutch 352 with Mata behind and Valencia/Young on the right.

Obviously in a 433 he would play as a right or left winger. However I do not see us playing a 433 often due to LvG wanting to play all of his best players and playing a 433 would mean one of RvP or Rooney and Mata missing out. Highly unlikely IMO. LvG will want all of his best players on the field together otherwise we are not getting any stronger. There is a way to keep all of them playing together, it's called a 3412.

{Ed002's Note - I am done with all of this 3-1-5-2-3-4 nonsense so we are shifting all discussion about teams and "formations" to a revised Teams page. It will deal with all of the random lists of players and where you all think they should stand at kick off.

You might want to ask me a new question about formations just to get it going - and I can give share some views from two of the world's great tactical coaches of the past 30 or forty years and add some thoughts of my own.

Then all further discussion about fantasy line ups that keep you awake at night can be kept in one place - away from me. Anything that then appears on the other pages will simply be deleted.}