While there are lots of positives to come from having a settled line up, it can become a problem too.
United risked becoming too easy to predict last season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer settling on a favoured side.
By time the league season came to a close with home matches against Southampton and West Ham, Solskjaer’s line up was too unpredictable.
United are still striving to find the right combination this season. This is a product of both indifferent form and having so many options.
The knock-on effect is that opposing managers do not know how United will set up on any given week.
This was highlighted by Istanbul Basasksehir coach Okan Buruk, in comments made to the club’s website ahead of tonight’s match.
The opposing coach’s comments suggest he has almost given up predicting which system United will use.
Buruk said: “The Manchester team was a team that played with the 4-2-3-1 formation. They’ve tried 4-3-1-2 in the last weeks. They played the Leipzig match in the Paris match and the league match with this formation.
“I think the lineup will change again. They have very high quality players. We will play our own game.”
These comments highlight the positives United have in the players and systems available to Solskjaer.
It can be tough to predict whether United will go with a 4-2-3-1 formation, a 3-4-1-2, or a diamond 4-4-2.
And even if the opposing manager correctly guesses the formation, getting the right combination of players is another matter.
Constant changes may not be helping United’s consistency at the moment, but that will hopefully come.
New signings help
It took far too long for United to get new signings in this summer. This has meant Edinson Cavani, for instance, is still getting up to speed.
Donny van de Beek has been somewhat harshly overlooked, while Alex Telles is recovering from illness and is unavailable tonight.
When all three are available to play regularly, hopefully over the international break, United will be even tougher to predict.
Even if Solskjaer settles on a system, as he should at some point, it will be tough for opponents to prepare for United’s line up.
The onus is on Solskjaer to get his selections right. But when the opposition do not know in advance what he is going to do, United already have a headstart.
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