Every manager is expected to have a particular trusted style that guarantees success of the team being managed, but in the case of Manchester United; well, I am not so sure.
Ralf Ragnick was recently appointed Manager of Manchester United after Ole Gunnar Solksjaer was sacked. Ragnick is known to favor a particular formation which is 4-2-2-2. It appears to have worked for him so far in other teams, reason he has kept it and is currently implementing it in Manchester; however, it isn't all going to plan so far.
The 4-2-2-2 formation which undoubtedly looks good on paper does not really look good on screen. It is without doubt a formation that hides the best of the experienced players in the Manchester United team according to my observation.
Now, it remains to be seen if Ragnick will pull another Arteta. I mean, keep doing his thing until the actual stuff is injected into the players and they get used to it and start winning. Against Crystal Palace in Ragnick's first game in charge of the Red devils, he went with the normal 4-2-3-1 the team were accustomed with and managed to run out 1-0 winners. His next game was against Young Boys in the Uefa Champions League in which he fielded youngsters and experimented with a new, totally different formation and United drew the match. The draw could be condoned because the red devils have already secured qualification to the knockout stages and are assured of first position.
The third match for Ragnick was when he decided to implement the formation he was accustomed with, the 4-2-2-2 against Norwich city and Manchester United played one of the worst football I have ever seen them play in recent years. There was a clear lack of creativity in the final third and all they did was pass the ball around. Manchester United will manage to score a goal and pick up the 3 points but there was no doubt they would dread that formation.
Today against Newcastle, Ragnick rolled out the same 4-2-2-2 formation and it is no surprise United were left chasing the game at half time. They would manage to pull level in the second half and drew the game. Without doubt, the drop of points against lower level team was coming and it is no surprise Newcastle almost ran out winners tonight.
Now, it remains to be seen if Ragnick will continue to employ his favorite formation and if the Manchester United team will adapt to it and start winning games consecutively and impressively. The difference between the trial version Arteta and the trial version Ragnick is that Arsenal played good football when they had the chance in each match, even though they ended up losing. United, however, is playing terribly and it doesn't look like there is a light at the end of this tunnel. I am not trying to be pessimistic, just realistic.
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