How Long will before Louis van Gaal is forced to make a change at Manchester United?

Manchester United had a really decent spell a few weeks back. 6 wins on the trot and they sat comfortably third in the league.

But, over the last few weeks they seem to have gone backwards again. As players have come back from injury Louis van Gaal has once more opted for the 3-5-2 and 1 win in the last 5 games shows that it’s not currently working.

In fact, Manchester United’s performance against Southampton could be described as ‘Moyesian’. It was really poor.

The big problem is they simply aren’t shifting the ball forward quickly enough. This formation is clunky and seems to always involve one more pass than is necessary.

You could argue that Manchester United’s players just need more time to figure tis one out. But there reminds in great example of a successful 3-5-2 in modern Premier League football and perhaps it’s time to revert to the 4-3-3 or a 4-4-2. The players, having spend most of their careers in it, would understand the formation better and have a more natural feel for where they should be positioned.

Manchester United just need to simplify their play. Get Angel on the left and Antonio on the right. Get rid of Chris Smalling and bring Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones into the central positions until a new centre back is found.

And get Rooney back in the whole with either Radamel Falcao or RvP up top. It’s simple and it will work.

We think that this might give Manchester United that missing zip again.

Manchester United fans: time for 4-4-2?