Could wingbacks provide answer to Fergie's problems?

Fergie says he's going to have to try something different if United are going to hit his target of 100 goals this coming season. The United manager says he expects players like Park and Valencia to do something that they've not done before in their careers that it is to score goals frequently. As far as the South Korean is concerned the idea that he might contribute say ten goals would appear to be doomed to failure from the start.

After a somewhat disappointing first season Fergie says he will use Berbatov in a different way - as the main striker no less - the success or failure of this plan pretty much hinges on the Bulgarian himself and so far he's remained silent, and quite what the former Spurs striker thinks about this new role would be interesting to know.

Berbatov is something of an enigma, he can produce moments of brilliance, but then moments later he can appear to look disinterested and lazy, but during his time in England at Spurs and United he has never looked like an out and out striker. Fergie's solution looks to be a lazy one from the outside looking in, but given we have a manager who plays strikers as wingers (Rooney) and wingers as strikers (Giggs) then nothing should surprise us.

United needed to sign a quick all round centre-forward this summer to complement their existing strike-force, because Berbatov most definitely is not that man.

From a tactical perspective, the fact that most observers will rightly accept the manager does need to do something different, is it not disappointing that Fergie hasn't even tried to do something different in pre-season? It's easy to say "we will simply shove Berbatov up front..." the idea is different, but it isn't exactly radical and worse still it's unlikely to work.

So then what else could Fergie have tried this summer and what other options are there? Fergie could opt for 4:4:2; this formation hinges on having a very strong central midfield pairing - think Ince and Keane and or Robson and Moses. Another vital ingredient is the addition of two hard working flank players. Valencia or Park could be perfect on the right, but for the left flank, you wonder if Tosic or Nani are quite good enough. Tosic looks too small while Nani has flattered to deceive on too many occasions and he doesn't defend well.

As far as the central midfield pairing goes, Fletcher and Carrick do not score enough goals, neither does Anderson. Given the various options at Fergie's disposal it would seem 4:4:2 would only work in the bread and butter domestic games - it is unlikely to yield positive results in the major encounters.

Another option would be to use wingbacks. United have some really pacey attacking fullbacks in the Da Silva brothers and Evra, so providing the defensive trio of Rio Ferdinand, Vidic and Wes Brown could organise themselves then playing three at the back could be another avenue.

Three at the back. Possible line up:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Rio Vidic Brown ++++++++++++++

+++++++++++ Rafael ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Evra +++

++++++++++++ Valencia ++ Fletcher ++ Carrick ++++


+++++++++++++++Rooney (or Owen) Berbatov (or Macheda)+++++++

Playing three at the back is the most difficult system of all to implement because it relies on the intelligence on five defenders to do the right thing at the right time. One of the issues centres on the third central defender who is in danger of becoming under-employed when facing a 4:5:1 formation (Chelsea - who often employ just Drogba as the main striker), to counter this, one of the three central defenders has the option of pushing further up the pitch into by the opposition's attacking third. Of equal importance is when and when not to attack from the wingback perspective.

The biggest problem with playing three at the back is the system takes time to adapt to and that Fergie freely admits he is no tactical genius. It would take a coach of who has total belief in different systems (Louis Van Gaal or Mourinho) and so in all probability the very idea would never get beyond the tactics board (assuming there actually is one)...

The United manager also has the option of deploying 4:5:1, but here again who would be the main striker? It would have to be Owen, because at least he has pace. Do not be surprised if Fergie opts for 4:5:1 in the not too distant future.

With all that said, we United fans love Fergie, we love his tactics - even if on paper they don't make a lot of sense because he's brought us a lot of success and joy down the years, but it wasn't for nothing that not so long ago the fans named him 'Tinkerbell' and you do wonder if that moniker will be used more frequently in the weeks ahead...