How Jose Mourinho can get Manchester United back on track

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has been under tremendous pressure so far this season after a poor start that sees his side sit in 8th place ahead of their clash with Chelsea.

The Portuguese manager needs to come up with a solution to his side's frustrating performances and it's clear he needs to come up with it fast.

After all, his job is on the line and while some fans (along with Mourinho perhaps) believe the solution is to throw money on their problems, the Glazers don't seem too keen to do so.

So how can the former Champions League-winning winner get even more out of his current crop of players and transform his and United's fortunes?

A rather simple solution is to change tactics. Jose has often deployed a 4-3-3 formation this season but it could be argued that it hasn't been used as effectively as perhaps England did in their superb 3-2 victory over Spain this international break.

Asking him to change his tactics though is never really going to work out but perhaps convincing him to switch formations will do the trick.

There's plenty of evidence to suggest a permanent switch to a 4-4-2 diamond would help the Red Devils dominate once more as well as bring the best out of his players.

Many players are actually playing out of position or not in roles that suit them best in the current formation whereas the 4-4-2 diamond could solve a lot of problems.

First off, with two strikers and an attacking midfielder, Manchester United would offer plenty of threat going forward but they would also protect their shaky defence with the defensive midfielder and two central midfielders going box to box.

Paul Pogba would be completely unshackled but more importantly Mourinho can stop forcing players out wide such as the likes of Anthony Martial, Jesse Lingard, Juan Mata and Marcus Rashford to track back.

There would also be no way that Romelu Lukaku would be isolated any more as you can imagine the kind of damage a front three including himself, Alexis Sanchez and Mata sitting behind would do.

The Chilean enjoyed an outstanding pre-season leading the line for United so perhaps shifting him back there without dropping the Belgian would solve a lot of issues.

Rashford and Martial can better benefit from the scraps of minutes they get when played in their preferred positions instead while Juan can establish himself amongst the best in the league once more in the number ten role.

The two youngsters are never likely to lead the line for Mourinho by themselves since they don't suit his tactics. It's clear they're not physical or powerful forwards but alongside a fellow striker they could potentially do more damage.

Nemanja Matic would obviously be tasked with sitting in front of the defence but he'd also be helped out by the Red Devils' new signing Fred or the tireless Ander Herrera.

Jose knows he has no natural wide players which is why reports linked the club with investing in the likes of Ivan Perisic or Gareth Bale but since he won't get either player then why not switch formations to suit his current crop?

The backline is obviously Manchester United's weakness but if they play in a formation that's naturally a bit top heavy then perhaps they can outscore opponents in a similar manner to Sir Alex Ferguson's final season in charge.

Mourinho has used the formation very rarely in the past but one result stands out that suggests there's more to come from it, namely the 2-0 in against Chelsea two seasons ago when Marcus scored within seven minutes.

With United travelling to the Blues this Saturday, what better time to employ the formation once again and perhaps enjoy the same kind of success?