HOW I THINK MAN UTD SHOULD LINE UP

So I’ve been gone for a while. Been up to a lot of things: Got my English FA Level 1 coaching certification and got married!!!

I have been wondering what happened to a great tactician like Mourinho and why it looks like he has lost his magic touch. What I have come to terms with is the fact that Mourinho had already set a standard we keep expecting him to at least live up to. He is human and sometime in your career it looks like everything is falling apart. What is important right now is that he needs to set this United team on fire and to do that, he should alter his tactics and get all his players believe in what he is trying to do.

United have lined up in many different fashions and with different selections as they try to find that spark. After giving deep thoughts to the quality of players, their abilities and how they can combine together, I have come up with what I think will be a great line-up for Mourinho’s team.

Below image shows the formation and players to fit in. It is a 4-4-2 diamond formation:

With the quality in the team, I expect United to play more direct and force their opponents into smaller spaces during games. They’ve got a good blend of players with physical abilities, great technique, pace and awareness. Looking at the quality in the squad, one expects United to dominate games, create spaces to play in and get a lot of balls forward to their strikers who have the ability to threaten defences with e combination of skill, pace, aerial ability and power.

The central defenders will hold their own and keep it tidy, with one of them occasionally stepping forward when the team is in possession and attacking. The full backs are charged with the responsibility of running the wings and providing the team with width. Going forward, the full backs can play in the midfielders who act as pivots to get the ball to either of the striker who drops to the side. The full backs and midfielders on each side compliment each other; Pogba and Shaw, Herrera and Valencia. Carrick comfortably shields the back four, so he needs no introduction. He knows his job and does it very, very well.

Mata’s creativity will help the attack form different shapes and allow them play in the midfielders from time to time. Mata will get good passes to space and can rely on Rashford’s pace to make good the forward passes. Ibra and Rashford will turn out to be a good partnership and allow United alternate forward passes- to feet and to space. They can also send in aerial balls, relying on Ibra to receive and play in Rashford, Mata, Herrera and even the full backs, depending on the shape of the team when attacking.

This formation will allow freedom for the players and reduce reliance on a few players to make things happen for the team. The team will have balance and a blend of all needed qualities to get fantastic results. 

CHOOSING A COACH FOR THE EAGLES

Despite all efforts to get the best coach for the Super Eagles, we always arrive at the same point where we are right now. When we consider local coaches, we keep recycling the existing names. Attempts at employing foreign coaches leaves us with mostly uninterested Europeans who take our monies and are on holidays almost all year round. The NFF needs to appreciate the importance of a robust football development plan and the need to appoint a coach whose philosophy will fall in line with the plan.

We do not have key players in top clubs in Europe, it is almost impossible for clubs in the local league to conquer the continent,  we play against other African countries and cannot even show co-ordination on the field of play. These are some of the points that show how low Nigerian football has fallen.

The NFF needs to constitute a working technical committee, one that will design a long-term football development plan for Nigeria. The committee should comprise a few ex-professional footballers, few local coaches in the likes of Amodu; Keshi; Siasia; Ikhana, seasoned football analysts and the coaching team of the super eagles. This committee will develop a football philosophy for the country, one that will guide national teams at all levels. The philosophy will also be adopted by football academies and clubs in the local league. This plan will consider regular trainings and refresher courses for coaches of clubs, academies and national teams in the country.

The foreign coach to be hired should not be seen as coach of the super eagles. Instead, he should be seen as one saddled with the responsibility of developing Nigerian football. This way, the coach will need to work with coaches of the U-17, 20 and 23 teams, not forgetting the female teams. In addition, he will work with coaches in the local league and academies. We will need his input and technical support for teams who make it to continental tournaments/competitions.

Guus Hiddink will leave Chelsea FC at the end of the season, I hope the NFF can approach him and get him to take up the job available in Nigeria- Preferably as NIGERIA’S COACH and not SUPER EAGLES COACH.