The diamond: Moyes' only chance at redemption?

Fellaini is a more defensive choice compared to Cleverly. Fellaini, as seen against Shakhthar Donetsk loses the ball many times and is not exactly a box-to-box midfielder. Against strong teams who attack on the counter with pace, Fellaini would be a good option.

Going on to the defense, the full backs need to be alert throughout the match. They must attack and make sure they are not caught suspect on the break. Rafael, Fabio and Evra are good players for this position. The center defense should be occupied by Vidic and Evans. Rio Ferdinand is no longer the player he used to be and Jones and Smalling are inconsistent.

Secondly, Moyes must bring Chicharito into the picture. For all he has done, he has been warming the benches ever since the arrival of Robin Van Persie. He has been stuck in a situation like Fabregas was in the past years at Barca. Fabregas couldn’t replace Xavi or Iniesta in the team even though he was as talented. It was the respect and reputation they held that stopped Fabregas from a permanent spot in the line-up.

Likewise, the arrival of Van Persie has been a bane for Chicharito. However well he played, the manager just cannot keep Robin Van Persie out of the first team. So as long as Van Persie was fit Chicharito never got a look-in. But they never realized the boons of playing a duo of Robin Van Persie and Javier Hernandez upfront.

The advantage of playing that duo is that Chicharito keeps on moving throughout the match. When Van Persie plays as a lone striker, it makes it easy for the opposition to mark him. When Chicharito plays, his constant movement at the shoulder of the backs would draw them out of position. This leaves a gaping hole in the center of the defense.

This is where Kagawa’s brilliance comes into play. When the center backs are drawn out of position, it clears the path for Robin Van Persie to have a look on goal. And there is also a potential Wayne Rooney in a scoring position. With the option of two players, Kagawa’s pass to anyone of them could break the defense. Another possibility is that he has the ball to himself, he can have a shot on goal from a potential scoring area.

Another possibility is that the center backs are stuck with marking Van Persie that they fail to mark Chicharito. Once again, Kagawa is the man here. When Chicharito is left unmarked, he can easily beat the offside trap and can finish off a potential killer pass from Kagawa or Rooney.

The advantage of United playing this kind of a non-conventional diamond is that they have three strikers in the system and narrow down the width of their attack. Many teams in the Premier League play a wide system with two full-backs and two wingers. By playing a diamond, United narrow down their line of attack and put pressure on the center backs.

The full backs would find it hard to mark the front five, all of whom are constantly moving around the box. What this does is it creates an imbalance in the attack of the opposition. By doing that, United are in control of the game. Even if the defenders mark both Robin Van Persie, Hernandez and Kagawa, there is always a Wayne Rooney to score goals.

Having four forwards in the team is not a big deal, but getting the best out of them is. A diamond could bring the best of all four forwards in the team. Welbeck can replace Hernandez whenever required.

Playing Welbeck means that he would even move out to the wings, thereby creating confusion in the minds of defenders. The diamond is the system that can get the best out of Kagawa and the forwards.

When playing the diamond, the opposition full backs are required to drift inside which would leave the opposition wingers to counter the threat of marauding full-backs. When playing such a high-pressing and advanced game, the opposition tends to lose the ball more often and eventually lose their rhythm.

For every boon, there is a bane. By playing a 4-3-1-2 diamond formation, United tend to lose a lot. First of all, a 4-3-1-2 diamond signals the exclusion of wingers from the team. By this change, the most likely to be affected are Nani, Young, Zaha, Valencia, Janujaz. Taking up the case of Valencia, he can always play as a right back and put in a decent shift. So his position in the team is unlikely to be threatened by a tactical switch.

Adnan Janujaz can play anywhere in the third quarter, which means he can be a viable substitute for Kagawa at the tip of the diamond. Nani, Zaha and Young are likely to suffer the most from this transition. Young, I believe is well past his prime and is living on borrowed time at Manchester United. To include Nani and Zaha in the team, Moyes can always switch to a 4-2-3-1 against smaller teams with a weak midfield. Playing a 4-2-3-1 against them would not be a big risk as their midfield is supposedly weaker than United’s.

Having looked at the pros and cons, it can be concluded that the positives of playing 4-3-1-2 diamond largely overpower the negatives of it.

Thus, after what has been a disastrous opening two months for Moyes and Co., a tactical shift could be Moyes’s chance at redemption.