The humiliating loss to Everton, despite playing with one more player for more than 75 minutes, almost made Ruben Amorim's goal at Man United return to the starting line. Man United still maintains the 3-center-back, 2-wing-back formation despite needing to overwhelm the opponent and playing with one more player.
Man United are about to visit Crystal Palace, a team that is proving a 3-4-2-1 system that can operate effectively in the Premier League under Oliver Glasner. Palace are currently in 5th place after round 12 and have won the FA Cup, something Amorim has yet to do after 1 year leading Man United.
It is worth mentioning that Glasner's side have maintained their consistency despite the loss of Michael Olise and Eberechi Eze. His system does not depend on a few outstanding individuals, it is based on a solid collective structure, which Man United are lacking the most at the moment.
The three central defenders Chris Richards - Maxence Lacroix - Marc Guehi are creating the perfect cover in front of Dean Henderson's goal, one of the goalkeepers with the best statistics in the league. Palace currently have the second best defense in the Premier League after Arsenal, they have only conceded 9 goals after 12 rounds.
Glasner stressed the importance of the central axis and especially the half space the area between the center of the pitch and the two wings, which creates most of the big Bangs dangerous plays. The two deviant Palace centre-backs are brilliantly defending these corridors. Lacroix and Richards are among the players with the most saves in the league, while Guehi is among the six defenders with the best home-field recoveries.
Meanwhile, Man United has not had such stability. Matthijs de Ligt is only effective when playing in the right center position, but when he has to play on the right wing because of Harry Maguire, he immediately loses confidence. They have quality central defenders but the trio in defense rarely play consistently together.
In particular, the left-sided centre-back role is still waiting for Lisandro Martinez to return, Luke Shaw has taken this position but his form is very unstable. Ruben Amorim is still finding a solution to the problem of selecting people - choosing roles - choosing responsibilities for each central defender.
Palace's biggest highlight was the two wing-backs with Daniel Munoz and Tyrick Mitchell. Munoz is the Premier League's top runner, nearly 14.5km/match, 1.5km more than the one behind him. Mitchell is also in the Top 5 of the list. This comparison stunned Man United fans when Munoz ran more fast than Amad Diallo and Noussair Mazraoui combined. Mitchell far exceeded the support of Dorgu or Dalot.
In midfield, the Wharton - Kamada (or Lerma) duo are the real owners in the central area, deciding the speed of attacks. Wharton is similar to Bruno Fernandes' version at Palace with the ability to hold the ball, breaking the opponent's structure with cross-line passes. Kamada is another strong shield, in the Top 5 Premier League for successful tackles/90 minutes.
Man United have a similar model with Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro but have not been effective. The pair were often exploited in deadly positions, even playing poorly against Everton despite playing with one more player. The decisive goal came from Everton's easy penalty crossing the "Red Devils" midfield, exposing the fragility in the structure that has been mentioned many times since the beginning of the season.
Oliver Glasner's system relies on two "numbers 10" - Ismaila Sarr and Yeremy Pino - who move narrowly to create an "eight-man support block" with three centre-backs, two central midfielders and striker Jean-Philippe Mateta. This structure helps Palace always have an overwhelming number of players in the middle, regardless of whether the opponent plays 2 or 3 midfielders.
Palace's "numbers 10" both kept the ball and stretched the opponent's formation. They forced the opponent to drop deep into a row of 6, creating space for Munoz and Mitchell to accelerate. Mateta, with the best pressing and ball-holding ability in the Premier League, is the perfect spearhead for this mechanism.
Man United have tried to buy players to operate like Crystal Palace but have not been successful. Injuries have caused the unfinished structure to become patchwork. Without Sesko and Cunha right before the match against Palace, M.U lacked important pieces to be able to operate.
Oliver Glasner showed that 3-4-2-1 was not a problem. With the right players, coaching style, and position discipline, Palace's 3-4-3 becomes an effective machine. Ruben Amorim is also loyal with 3-4-2-1 but Man United do not have what Palace have shown.
The match at Selhurst Park will be a big test for Ruben Amorim. How will he deal with a team with the same ideology and captain who has proven that system can succeed in the Premier League?
