Manchester United Football Formation

Lineup (4-5-1)

Evra and Valencia play as wing-backs rather than proper full backs, providing width; in attack Carrick drops into defense; Jones/Cleverley play as ball-winning midfielders and may start attacking moves or time runs into the box (especially Cleverley); Nani and Kagawa may come inside or drift into the center for Valencia and Evra respectively on the overlap; Rooney, Nani and Kagawa interchange.

Rooney may drop deep into the "hole" and may seek to play the ball to the marauding wingbacks or a killer final ball to Nani or Kagawa, both of whom are decent finishers; or he may start in the hole, meaning that there are no true strikers (or rather, no one with a true striking role) in the starting lineup (a 4-6-0, essentially).

In defense Cleverley (who used to be a LB) and Jones may help track opposition wingers, especially if Valencia and Evra are caught too high up the pitch. Kagawa may drop back into midfield if needed; Rooney is of course known for his high work rate and tendency to drop deep. This frees up Nani from most defensive responsibilities and enables him to play the drifting role he does with Portugal. Kagawa to a lesser extent is also given a free role; his preferred position is in the hole though he plays AML for Japan; he may seek out Evra on the overlap, while Cleverley drifts to the left and covers for Evra.

Carrick screens the back four and plays a Martinez role; he (and Evans to a lesser extent) seeks to play the ball out of defense, switch the ball to the flanks with Scholes-que long balls or go short to Cleverley or Jones (who act as link-up players more than playmakers) who then either embark on driving runs or play it short to the more creative front three.

Young can swap for Kagawa (he plays mainly AML but can drift towards the center); Rooney may play AMR/free role instead of Nani and Welbeck leading the line, or Welbeck may replace Kagawa; Rafael may replace Valencia; Jones may replace Carrick in the holding/deep-lying playmaker role though he will be considerably more limited (though he drops into defense as per usual) and will not act as a playmaker; Carrick may then play a more advanced role; Anderson may replace Cleverley. Hernandez can play the role of "supersub" to stretch tiring opposition defenses.

Kagawa behind Rooney, Nani on the left, Valencia on AMR and Jones at right back gives a normall 4-2-3-1 formation.

Various Academy graduates such as Petrucci or Tunnicliffe, of course, may be included; Tunnicliffe may take Jones' role while Petrucci may replace Cleverley.