Ralf Rangnick Hints At Manchester United Formation Change Vs Aston Villa

Ralf Rangnick has hinted at changing formation at Manchester United after suffering his first defeat last week.

United lost 1-0 at home to Wolves in the Premier League, with Joao Moutinho scoring the winner eight minutes from time at Old Trafford.

Wolves completely nullified United's threat and manager Bruno Lage expertly broke down their tactics post-match.

Since Rangnick was appointed as interim manager of the 13-time Premier League winners following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the 63-year-old has been deploying a 4-2-2-2 formation.

Image: PA

The system is a favourite of Rangnick's due to his gegenpressing philosophy but hasn't quite suited United, who have barely pressed apart from the first half in his first game in charge vs Crystal Palace.

United fans haven't enjoyed the style of play under the current formation, which hasn't got the best out of the forward players at the club.

And ahead of the FA Cup third round clash with Aston Villa, Rangnick has hinted at a switch to a back three.

However, he believes the system change would depend on having centre-backs fit and available.

"Well, I think most teams have their system in England and they stick to it," Rangnick told the club's official website, as per the Manchester Evening News.

"But there are also teams who switch from a back three to a back four, or from a back four to a back three, or even like Bayern Munich, for example, or Leipzig also did it last season with Julian Nagelsmann, even if they play defensively in a back four, they try to rotate within this system, this formation, to a little bit of an asymmetric back three.

"I think with our team, we have those two options, in order to play with a back three, we need to have most of our centre-backs available, I think even under Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], the team did it, for example in games like Tottenham, Atalanta away, or against Manchester City, in the derby.

"I think we can play in the back three, this could be an option for us, but, as I said, it also depends on the players available, on the current shape and form of the players and also, to a certain extent, to the team against which we are playing."

Under Solskjaer, both Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have been utilised as central defenders and been effective in doing so.

Image: PA

Victor Lindelof is back in the United squad after recovering from COVID-19, but captain Harry Maguire was not spotted by photographers arriving at the Hyatt hotel in Manchester.

The winners of tonight's game will face Middlesbrough at home in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

Topics: Ralf Rangnick, Manchester United, Aston Villa, FA Cup