Louis van Gaal Must Stick with 4-3-3 for the Rest of Manchester United’s Season

On Wednesday night, Louis van Gaal managed to engineer a 2-0 win for Manchester United over Crystal Palace. It was reminiscent of the kind of routine home wins that were the building blocks for much of Sir Alex Ferguson’s success.

Everyone remembers the dramatic comebacks and the key clashes with title rivals, but in truth—particularly during the latter years of his reign—one of Sir Alex’s teams’ defining qualities was their ability to ensure safe passages through games during the league season.

Since he retired in 2013, home wins have been anything but routine. Slip-ups against sides United are typically expected to beat have been commonplace—for example, United have lost home league games against Norwich City and Southampton this season alone.

Happy with the win, happy with the clean sheet & happy for @DarmianOfficial , what a goal ⚽️????#ggmu pic.twitter.com/GOsguMvOej

— Morgan Schneiderlin (@SchneiderlinMo4) April 20, 2016

No such misfortune befell the Red Devils on Wednesday. One of the key factors in United’s improved performance against Palace was a change in system—one many have been advocating for much of this long, dull season.

As they did against West Ham United in the FA Cup quarter-final replay on April 13, United switched to a 4-3-3—or perhaps 4-1-4-1—that resembled the system they used during their infamous good spell at the back end of last season.

In between the West Ham and Palace games came the rather more turgid win over Aston Villa, a game in which it was less obvious whether United were playing a 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1 or 4-2-3-1. Marouane Fellaini slotted into midfield alongside Morgan Schneiderlin as often as he broke beyond the ball.

The lineup for the Palace …

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