MY ACCOUNT
As Manchester United’s slow revolution continues, Ralf Rangnick finds himself with a conundrum in attack.
Jadon Sancho is finally living up to his £73million price tag and Anthony Elanga continues to make a name for himself, giving the German tactician an unexpected selection headache.
So, who should comprise the Red Devils’ regular front three? And how might it look beyond this season?
Ahead of today’s Premier League clash with Watford, we take a look at the options available to United’s interim boss.
Chopping and changing
In three of the last six games, Rangnick has opted for a forward line of Marcus Rashford, Cristiano Ronaldo and Sancho — with Elanga, Jesse Lingard and Edinson Cavani also earning starts across those fixtures.
But he has not named the same trio in consecutive matches during that period. A packed schedule necessitates rotation but it is entirely possible that Rangnick is not sure of his best front three.
And that would be understandable given the Red Devils’ recent switch from his historically preferred 4-2-2-2 formation, not to mention the resurgence of Sancho and emergence of Elanga.
However, the fact that Rangnick started with the Rashford-Ronaldo-Sancho combination in Wednesday’s Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid might suggest he is leaning towards that as his default set-up.
Sancho shows what he is all about
One of Europe’s hottest attacking properties in recent years, Sancho’s arrival from Borussia Dortmund was met with understandably high expectations.
But the England winger could not get going at Old Trafford and very quickly found himself reduced to a bit-part player under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
He was not involved in a goal until scoring in November’s 2-0 Champions League win at Villarreal — the first of Michael Carrick’s three games as interim boss.
But with a new manager has come a new Sancho — or rather, the old Sancho has returned.
The 21-year-old has played a part in four of United’s last 10 goals, providing his first two assists in their 4-2 win away at Leeds last Sunday.
The right shape
Sancho has been the biggest beneficiary of Rangnick’s change to a 4-3-3 formation — and the former RB Leipzig boss explained that decision earlier this month.
He said: “To start with, it was logical to stick to the formation that [the players] were used to and that the team has played before.
“As you know in the first game against Crystal Palace and against Norwich we played in a 4-2-2-2, quite like Southampton is playing.
“But once we realised for all our players — Bruno [Fernandes], Fred, Paul Pogba — it would fit better to their strengths to play in an eight position, we did that.”
A tactical shift ostensibly made with United’s midfielders in mind seems to have breathed fresh life into their attack.
Elanga’s emergence
Academy product Anthony Elanga made his Premier League debut towards the back end of last season and soon made his mark, scoring his first goal in United’s final-day victory at Wolves.
And the 19-year-old Swede has gone from strength to strength this term, adding three more goals — all of them since the turn of the year — including the equaliser off the bench against Atletico.
That was Elanga’s second goal in as many games, following his late strike at Elland Road. He is bound to be pushing for a start this afternoon.
Striker uncertainty
While Ronaldo and Cavani give United two elite centre-forward options for the time being, that may not be the case beyond this season.
Ronaldo has another year left to run on his contract — but Cavani’s future remains uncertain, with the veteran Uruguayan’s current deal set to expire this summer.
Even if Ronaldo continues to be the focal point of their attack in 2022-23 — and whether Cavani stays or not — United need to start planning for the longer-term future.
To that end, you would expect them to be in the market for a younger No9 when the transfer window reopens.
