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Some fixtures seem out of place. Perhaps it’s just about conceivable that, if events had unfolded a bit differently in the 70s, Terry Venables could have been leading their team behind the Soviet Bloc for a shot against Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s tactical masterminds, but a match between Dynamo Kyiv and Crystal Palace remains a fixture that elicits a double-take. It feels like a mismatch: how is it possible that those two clubs even be in the same competition?

However this is the contemporary world. The nation is fighting invasion, its teams weakened. The English top flight is extremely wealthy. And the Eagles are managed by one of the emerging talents of the European game. They didn’t just play each other on the matchday, but they triumphed with a degree of comfort. It was their third consecutive victory, their 19th consecutive match without defeat.

Managerial Speculation and Next Moves

Therefore, because no team of their stature can simply be allowed to enjoy a good run, all the talk is of where Oliver Glasner could move to. His deal ends at the end of the season and he has declined to agree to an extension. He is 51; if he is planning to lead a major club with the possibility of an long tenure in charge, he doesn’t have a huge amount of time to secure a move. Might he then be the solution for the Red Devils? He does, ultimately, play the same formation as Ruben Amorim, just rather more effectively.

Strategic System and Cultural Background

Which raises the issue of the reason a system that has drawn so much scepticism at Old Trafford works so effectively at Selhurst Park. But it’s not just about the setup, nor is it the case – within reason – that a specific system is inherently superior than a different one. Rather specific tactical shapes, in combination with the manner they are enacted, emphasize particular aspects of play. It is, at the minimum, intriguing that since the manager’s Everton claimed the championship in the 1962-63 season with a W-M formation, only one side has won the English league title using with a three-man defense: Antonio Conte’s Blues in the 2016-17 season.

The former Chelsea manager’s team won the championship in 2016-17 with a three defenders and in practice two attacking midfielders.

That success was something of a rare event. Chelsea that campaign had no continental commitments, allowing them fresher than their rivals, and they had squad members who fit the formation virtually freakishly perfectly.

N’Golo Kanté, with his stamina and reading of the play, is almost a duo in one, and he was functioning at the base of midfield together with the steadying influence of Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fàbregas, among the most penetrating playmakers the division has known. That offered the foundation for the two No 10s: Eden Hazard, who revelled in his unrestricted position, and Pedro, a expert of the run into the penalty area. Every one of those individuals was enhanced by their combination with the teammates.

Systemic Factors and Strategic Difficulties

Partly, the relative lack of success for the three-man defense, at least in terms of winning titles, is systemic. Not many sides have won the title playing a back three because few sides have adopted a three-at-the-back system. The global tournament win in 1966 reified in the English football consciousness the efficacy of zonal marking with a back four.

That stayed the default, almost without challenge, for the two decades that followed. But there could additionally be particular tactical reasons. A three-man backline gets its breadth from the wide players; it could be that the extreme hard-running nature of the English football makes the demand on those individuals excessive to be undertaken consistently.

However the system poses particular difficulties. It is stable, providing the trapezoid structure – three central defenders protected by defensive midfielders – that is widely acknowledged as the most efficient way to guard against opposition counterattacks. But that is only one aspect of the match. If they advance forward from the cover of the triple centre‑backs, considering the common use of setups with a midfield triangle, a pair of midfield players will tend to be outnumbered without backup from elsewhere – except if one of them has the outstanding gifts of Kanté.

Eddie Nketiah rejoices after scoring his team’s second goal versus the Ukrainian side.

Advantages and Limitations of the System

The inherent stability of that tight defensive block, meanwhile, although an benefit for a side looking to absorb attacks, turns into a potential drawback for a side that seek to take the game to the rival. Its biggest strength is simultaneously its greatest weakness. The blockish structure of the system, the way the center is divided into defensive players and attack-minded players – exclusively No 6s and attacking mids in modern parlance, with zero box-to-box midfielders – means that without a individual to step across bands there is a danger of being read easily; once more, Chelsea had the perfect man to do that, David Luiz frequently striding ahead from the defense to act as an extra midfield option.

Divergent Approaches at Palace and Old Trafford

Palace don’t care about possession. They have the second-lowest ball control of all teams in the top division. It’s not at all their role to have the ball. And that is the main reason why a direct contrast with United’s struggles is challenging. United, by tradition and by demand, can not be the team with the second-worst ball retention in the league.

Although United chose to play on the break against other elite clubs, the majority of their matches will be against rivals who defend deeply and would be happy enough with a draw. In the bulk of fixtures there is an pressure on them to dominate the play.

Perhaps a progressive team can play a three-at-the-back system but it requires extremely specific personnel – as the Italian coach possessed at Chelsea. The Austrian’s success with it has arrived at Lask and the German clubs, where he has been in a position to have his team sit deep and attack at speed.

Palace have defeated West Ham and West Ham, because the majority of sides do at the moment, frustrated Chelsea, and torn the Reds to pieces on the break. But they’ve additionally drawn at Selhurst Park to Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, and struggled to overcome Fredrikstad. Defend deeply against Palace and they struggle for creativity.

Adjustment and Future Possibilities

Could Glasner adapt if he moved