The TERRIBLE Man Utd starting XI under 'dinosaur' Allegri

Jacque Talbot

Updated: 2 Oct 2024 12:02 BST
2 min read

Manchester United may be in the market for a new head coach soon.

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It's the third season now with Erik ten Hag and it's bordering on miraculous that he will survive this week. Reports suggest that positive results need to come from their Porto and Aston Villa matches or the board will have no choice.

The Dutchman has had a mixed legacy - his two cup wins, the FA Cup and the League Cup, somewhat papering over the cracks at Old Trafford.

The club will be looking at names already, as they had done in the summer, and no doubt famous coaches out of work will be thrown into the mix.

But Massimiliano Allegri is not what the club needs. He enjoyed great success with Juventus in his first spell there, but soon his tactics and ideas started to become old and not the sort of blueprint you need in the game today.

Here FootballTransfers goes through the possible line-up that Allegri would have at United - and yes, it's not a pretty sight.

Allegri changed formations and systems a bit but typically it was a variation of the 3-5-2, but using a single striker and a second striker directly behind them. So it's more of a 3-5-1-1.

In goal, we can say goodbye to Andre Onana. He would be dropped to the bench and Tom Heaton would come in instead.

Allegri tends to pick defensive players who drop as deep as possible. Harry Maguire will be the centre-piece of the backline, with Jonny Evans and Victor Lindelof on either side.

Into the centre of the park and Allegri will like players who can provide something of a brick wall. No flair here, it would be a case of Casemiro and Manuel Ugarte acting as the outright No.6s, and Mason Mount being a defensive No.8. It's all about defending, remember.

Sharpshooters would be agonisingly chosen as the wing-backs. Marcus Rasford will be right-wing-back, similar to how Allegri used Federico Chiesa in Turin. On the opposite side will be Luke Shaw, with instructions to defend as much as possible.

As the No.10 comes Amad Diallo, despite his proficiency as an inside forward. No, he will be restricted as an auxiliary attacker instead. Joshua Zirkzeee will be poised upfront to get the goals, the only player with an attacking role in the whole starting XI.

Starting XI: Heaton; Lindelof, Maguire, Evans Rashford, Ugarte, Mount, Casemiro, Shaw; Diallo, Zirkzee