Since the arrival of Ruben Amorim last season Manchester United have exclusively played with a back three.
The Portuguese’s refusal to budge from employing a 3-4-2-1 system has been fascinating to watch and drawn a lot of criticism when results have dipped.
Unlike in other areas of the squad, however, Amorim is well-stocked at centre-back and has plenty of good options to deploy in those three positions.
Impressive depth
United started their first four Premier League games with a strong back three of Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Luke Shaw.
Harry Maguire was brought off the bench in three of those matches and forced his way into the starting XI against Manchester City, when he was replaced on 70 minutes by Yoro.
There have also been late cameos in those positions from Ayden Heaven and Noussair Mazraoui, meaning Amorim has already used six players in his back three in five league matches.
The Portuguese’s willingness to mix up his backline during games, and often during the late stages when United need to hold on to a tight lead or push for a goal, is not impressing club legend Rio Ferdinand.
“I find it wild”
Speaking on his Rio Presents podcast, the six-time Premier League winner said: “I look at teams that win, right? Whether it’s my team, whether it’s the old Arsenal teams with Tony Adams or with Martin Keown, Sol Campbell, or John Terry and [Ricardo] Carvalho, William Gallas, now [Virgil] van Dijk and [Ibrahima] Konate. The same centre halves play every week.”
He explained why this was so important: “There’s a consistency with team selection, with that pairing at the back. Paris Saint-Germain, same two centre backs all the way through, Champions League, bang, winning the trophy.
“The consistency of players in that area of the pitch gives you a better chance to win. This chopping and changing is just, I find it wild – I don’t like it and I wouldn’t like it if I played.”
Difficult for the players
Ferdinand was then asked why coming off the bench as a centre-back is difficult. He explained that the main challenge is “picking up the pace of the game, the rhythm of the game.”
He continued: “Your first one, two, three sprints you are absolutely hanging onto things, your lungs are on the floor, red raw.
“Getting into a game is difficult man, and they’re just getting into that speed of the game and the rhythm of it, it’s hard man.”
Featured image Matt McNulty via Getty Images
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Joe Ponting
Joe has spent more than half his life writing about football and all of it following United. As a child he told a doctor his name was ‘Paul Scholes’, but could never pick a pass like him no matter how much he tried.
