Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney has urged Erik ten Hag to take a 'gamble' with his team selection ahead of their FA Cup final against Manchester City.
The Red Devils travel to Wembley on Saturday June 3 to face their bitter rivals in a bid to put an end to Pep Guardiola's treble hopes.
Manchester City took one step closer to emulating Sir Alex Ferguson’s legendary class of 1999 last weekend as they won the Premier League title with three games to spare.
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They are now just two wins away from a historic treble, as City prepare to face Ten Hag's men before playing Inter Milan in the Champions League final.
Very few sides have managed to compete with the sky blues this season, but United's all-time top scorer Rooney reckons he has a way to stop them.
Writing in his column for The Times, Rooney suggested Ten Hag should set up in a 4-4-2 formation in an attempt to confuse the opposition.
"My strategy would be to go the other way and ask City to do something different," he said.
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"I would set United up 4-4-2, with [Anthony] Martial and [Marcus] Rashford up top and a very solid midfield behind them: Casemiro in the middle with Christian Eriksen, or even Scott McTominay, and Bruno Fernandes and Fred either side. I’d want to keep the distances between my eight defending players small.
"Everyone in football knows that if you get a good block of eight players, do it well and keep your discipline, it’s very difficult to break you down. United have had a few successes against City in recent years playing on the counterattack — often with Rashford and Martial to the fore.
"Playing my way carries risks but I feel you have to risk it against City and ask questions that force them to do something different. Gamble and they may punish you but if you just sit back you’re going to get punished by them anyway — so why not take the initiative and try something?", he added.
Discussing a tactic used by Jose Mourinho during his first spell in charge of Chelsea in which he would leave players high up the pitch to exploit the opposition on the counterattack, Rooney postulated that United could do the same with Rashford and Martial.
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"United could do similar using Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial: defend with eight players and have those two waiting in counterattack positions", Rooney continued.
"That would ask City different questions: should John Stones still come into the midfield or would it leave that side of the pitch open for Rashford to run into? Should Kyle Walker go high or would this open up space?"
Topics: Manchester United, Wayne Rooney, Erik Ten Hag, Manchester City, FA Cup
Joe Adams