Lukaku - Rashford 'double-barreled' gun

(Baonghean.vn) - While bothThe Premier League is intoxicated with the 3-4-3 formation that brought Chelsea to the championship last year.Mourinho and the “red devils” are on a tour to test the 3-5-2 formation. Coach Mourinho is preparing to fire the “double-barreled” cannon Lukaku - Rashford on the attack line.

After a disappointing season that hurt Mourinho’s pride, the “Theatre of Dreams” is undergoing a complete transformation. In addition to bringing in expensive players like Lindelof and Lukaku, MU’s football philosophy has changed significantly.

Refresh your strategy

Coach Van Gaal is the “father” of the 4-2-3-1 tactical formation and Mourinho, after working as an assistant for the Dutch coach, has creatively upgraded it. The key point of the 4-2-3-1 formation is to have two midfielders who can collect the ball and sweep the middle of the field, providing the ball to 3 midfielders and 1 striker who is good at running, pressing the opponent’s defenders, especially good at aerial combat.

Lukaku - Rashford is the hopeful "twin" of MU. Photo: Internet

The “Special One” Mourinho succeeded in leading Porto to the Champions League title, helping Chelsea win 3 Premier League titles in 2 terms. In addition, the “Special One” also won a historic treble with Inter with the 4-2-3-1 formation, which has become a trend in the past decade.

But recently, this tactic is considered "outdated" because teams tend to use only 1 striker, making a 4-man defense redundant. Not to mention, there are not many strikers who have all the qualities needed in a 4-2-3-1 formation, operate independently and create situations for themselves.

MU's failure in the Premier League last season forced Mourinho to constantly change his tactical scheme. At the end of the season, the Portuguese strategist was only temporarily satisfied with the 3-5-2 scheme and in fact, MU had a complete "transformation" in the 2 matches applying this scheme.

That made Mourinho even more determined to reform his tactical thinking. First, Mourinho continued to bring in another defender, Victor Lindelof from Benfica. In the context that MU has up to 6 players who can play in the center-back position including: Phil Jones, Smalling, Blind, Rojo, Phil Jones, Smalling, Bailly, Fosu-Mensah. He needs a thick, deep defense to be able to rotate on many fronts throughout the season.

Attack trend

Europe's leading football experts all believe that the decision to switch to a 3-5-2 formation is because Mourinho wants to take full advantage of the talents of Paul Pogba, Herrera as well as the destructive power of Lukaku - Rashford.

In which, Lukaku is a striker with great power, playing explosively and stably for several Premier League seasons. Moreover, MU has wingers who can attack and defend, such as Blind, Mkhitaryan, Valencia... In which, right-back Valencia, who is a winger, will be able to play in his favorite position to promote his dizzying dribbling speed.

Mourinho is returning to an attacking 3-5-2 formation. Photo: Internet

For a long time, Coach Mourinho has only played with a single striker, prioritizing defense at the clubs he leads with the philosophy of "not losing before scoring a goal". Now, with good cards in hand, Coach Mourinho affirms that "MU will attack and attack to score 1 more goal than the opponent".

The results in recent training sessions and friendly matches against Real Salt Lake, LA Galaxy, and Man City have further confirmed his belief. It must be said that this is a significant change for Mourinho after many years in charge and if successful, it will open up a trend of attacking football in the Premier League and Europe.

He will definitely have 2 holding midfielders, namely Paul Pogba, Herrera or Fellaini and in the future Nemanja Matic. Besides, the wingers who can attack and defend will be Blind, Mkhitaryan, Valencia... Especially when in addition to the successful testing of Lukaku - Rashford's destructive ability, the experiments of Lukaku-Martial, Rashford-Martial, and even Lukaku-Mata have all more or less given satisfactory answers.

In the holding midfield position, Mourinho also has Fellaini and in the future maybe Nemanja Matic - players who will support a defense of only 3 central defenders very well. This is not a new tactical formation, it balances attack and defense quite well but it requires the players to be quite mobile.

If you observe, it is not by chance that Mourinho brought to MU many players with very good height, playing with 3 central defenders really needs people who are good at defending high balls.

For MU fans, there is nothing more enjoyable than going to the “Theatre of Dreams” to witness the goals of the “Red Devils” and sing traditional songs on the weekends. To do that, MU must race to complete the puzzle pieces well before the opening season./.

An Thanh