Harry Maguire has insisted Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 formation is not to blame for Manchester United’s struggles, instead arguing the players are to blame.
Questions have been asked about Amorim’s decision to persist with a tactical system which does not appear to benefit most in his squad, with the spaces left around his two-man midfield attracting particular criticism.
It is not the first time the Premier League has seen such a setup. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace have both used three-back setups in recent seasons and Antonio Conte even won the 2016–17 title with Chelsea in a 3-4-3.
Maguire was eager to defend Amorim’s setup, insisting it is attracting plenty of unfair scrutiny simply because results are not going the way United want.
“I think the formation is an easy one to go at, because we’re playing something a little bit different to everybody else,” he told Sky Sports. “For me, it just became an easy one to go at when the results don’t work.
“The formation has been fine. Like I said, box to box we been pretty comfortable in every game. Tactically we’ve been comfortable in every game, it’s got to be down to the players. The players have got to take their moments, they’ve got to make the difference in those moments.
“I think this season, the first four games, we just haven’t done them ‘moments’ well enough. And like I said, we haven’t defended in our box well enough in the big moments. Every time the opposing team comes near the box, it ends up in the back of the net, which is something we need to work on.
“But I think the formation is just an easy one to dig out because we’ve not been winning football matches. The formation is not a set formation, everyone says ‘3’ or ‘5’ but in a lot of phases of the game, we play a back four.
“We’ve been happy since the manager has come in. It’s an easy one to dig out, but it’s down to the players to execute. And if you’re a good player, you can play in any formation.”
Amorim has repeatedly insisted he has no plans to change his tactical setup, going as far as to warn United officials they would have to sack him if they want to see a different formation, and he doubled down on that stance ahead of Chelsea's visit to Old Trafford on Saturday.
“No one, not even the Pope will change [me],” Amorim stressed. “This is my job, this is my responsibility, this is my life. So, I will not change that.
“There will be an evolution, but we need to make all the good steps. If I’m a player and I have a coach that, with a lot of pressure and all around the world they are saying, ‘You need to change the system’—if I change in this moment, the players will look at me in a different way.
“When you think about the impact that any decision is going to have on the team, everything is important. So, I will say the same thing: this will have to be an evolution. I’m doing things my way. Some guys do it in a different way, but it [results] will change. I hope to have the time to change, but they will change. I’m just trying to win games, trying to see what is the best option to win the next game.
“I’m trying to get the best connections to play better and, in the end, to win points. It’s about belief, confidence, aggression, it’s everything. And sometimes, what we call luck means we will play the game with more belief. Sometimes, with us, I feel the opposite. We are playing well, but something is going to go wrong in some moments. We need to change that, but it’s just with wins.
“I can do whatever, but if you look at the goals against [Manchester] City and Fulham, all these moments can be stopped. In all these moments, I think we can do better. It’s our fault. So we work on that during the week to improve.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Harry Maguire Reveals Surprising Stance on Man Utd Formation, Ruben Amorim Doubles Down.