Manchester United face a difficult decision as Michael Carrick remains an obvious internal option while Andoni Iraola emerges as a leading external candidate. Iraola, who announced his Bournemouth departure last month, has attracted attention for an eye-catching rise on the south coast that could end in European qualification this term.<\/p>\n
Iraola has favoured a 4-2-3-1 since arriving in England, the same system he used regularly with Rayo Vallecano. More important than formation is his tactical identity: intense, front-footed football that presses high and forces turnovers. United have faced his Bournemouth side six times without victory, winning two and drawing four. \u201cChaos\u201d was the word first used to describe his approach to Premier League audiences, and the energy of his teams can produce havoc, as seen in the 4-4 draw at Old Trafford in December.<\/p>\n
In possession Iraola asks for quick, direct movement and the exploitation of turnovers near the opposition goal. Bournemouth\u2019s attacking output this season underlines that approach; only four teams have scored more than the Cherries.<\/p>\n
If Iraola took charge, a likely framework and personnel issues United would have to address are clear.<\/p>\n
GK: Senne Lammens \u2014 Signed from the Belgian Pro League as a relative unknown, the 23-year-old has impressed in his debut term and offered reassurance between the posts.<\/p>\n
RB: Tino Livramento \u2014 United currently have Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, but Iraola may prefer a more athletic, attack-minded option such as Livramento.<\/p>\n
CB: Matthijs de Ligt \u2014 Injury affected his season, but he had shown strong form before that and remains central to the club\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n
CB: Lisandro Mart\u00ednez \u2014 Also hampered by injury, Mart\u00ednez remains the preferred left-footed centre back.<\/p>\n
LB: Adrien Truffert \u2014 With Luke Shaw approaching 31 and Patrick Dorgu yet to establish himself at left back, Truffert could be an ideal long-term option.<\/p>\n
CM: Sandro Tonali \u2014 United need major midfield recruitment to replace Casemiro. Tonali\u2019s blend of work-rate and technique fits Iraola\u2019s demands.<\/p>\n
CM: Kobbie Mainoo \u2014 Carrick has helped revive Mainoo\u2019s progress; Iraola would likely continue to build the midfield around the 21-year-old.<\/p>\n
RW: Bryan Mbeumo \u2014 An encouraging debut campaign has seen Mbeumo provide goals and creativity and he could add spark on the right.<\/p>\n
AM: Bruno Fernandes \u2014 The captain has thrived under every past manager. Iraola would need to give Fernandes freedom to orchestrate attacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Projected Manchester United XI if Andoni Iraola takes charge, focused on intensity, pressing. Today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1083,969],"tags":[1615,342,260],"class_list":["post-13654","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-man-utd","category-premier-league","tag-andoni-iraola","tag-bruno-fernandes","tag-bryan-mbeumo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13654","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13654\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}