Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal explained why he shifted to a 3-5-2 formation when his team visited King Power Stadium yesterday. Van Gaal went with a back three, and Ashley Young out wide as a way to counter the Leicester City counter-attack. Van Gaal used this formation for the first time since January specifically for this game, as a way to try and slow down Jamie Vardy.
“I have a lot of injuries in defense, so I was a little bit forced to do that, but I also did it because of the way Leicester play,” Van Gaal said.
“I had to close the channels for Vardy and Okazaki, and that was always a reason, and we also had one man more in midfield so we had a lot of space and, because of that, we dominated the game. But we have to create more chances and we didn’t do that. We had more chances than Leicester City, but not too much.”
“In the first-half, we didn’t dominate as much as we did in the second-half. So, in the second half, I was waiting on our goal but it didn’t come. They also had a good chance; we gave the ball away because [Paddy] McNair thought he was a striker at that moment and then the channels were open and then they could run in them.”
Van Gaal utilized the 3-5-2 with the Dutch National Team at the 2014 World Cup. He guided the national team to third place in the tournament.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
Follow him on Twitter and Instagram