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SCertain matches seem out of place. Maybe it’s almost conceivable that, had things gone slightly otherwise in the 70s, Malcolm Allison or another manager coaching their team beyond the Iron Curtain for a crack at Valeriy Lobanovskyi’s tactical masterminds, but a match between Dynamo Kyiv and Crystal Palace remains a clash that provokes a second look. It seems like a category error: how can those teams even be in the same competition?

But this is the contemporary era. The nation is fighting invasion, its teams weakened. The English top flight is extremely wealthy. And the Eagles are coached by among the emerging talents of the continental football. They didn’t just play each other on the matchday, but they triumphed with a degree of ease. It was their third straight win, their 19th straight game without defeat.

Managerial Rumors and Future Steps

And so, because no team of their stature can even just be allowed to savor a winning streak, all the talk is of where Oliver Glasner could go next. His contract ends at the conclusion of the season and he has refused to agree to an extension. He is fifty-one; if he is going to lead a top club with the chance of an extended spell in charge, he lacks a huge amount of time to secure a transition. Might he then be the answer for Manchester United? He does, after all, utilize the same formation as the Sporting coach, just rather more effectively.

Strategic Formation and Historical Context

Which raises the issue of the reason a system that has attracted so much doubt at Old Trafford works so well at Selhurst Park. But it’s never only about the setup, nor is it the situation – within reason – that a specific system is inherently superior than a different one. Instead certain tactical shapes, in combination with the style they are enacted, emphasize certain aspects of the game. It is, at the minimum, fascinating that since the manager’s Toffees won the championship in the 1962-63 season with a W-M, just a single team has won the Premier League playing with a back three: the Italian’s Chelsea in 2016-17.

The former Chelsea manager’s team won the title in that season with a three defenders and in practice two No 10s.

That success was something of a black swan event. The London club that season had no continental commitments, keeping them fresher than their rivals, and they had squad members who suited the system virtually remarkably well.

N’Golo Kanté, with his stamina and understanding of the game, is practically a duo in one, and he was operating at the base of midfield together with the calming influence of Nemanja Matic or Cesc Fàbregas, one of the most penetrating playmakers the Premier League has seen. That provided the platform for the dual playmakers: the Belgian wizard, who revelled in his free position, and Pedro, a expert of the dart into the penalty area. Each of those players was enhanced by their partnership with the teammates.

Systemic Factors and Strategic Difficulties

Partly, the comparative lack of success for the back three, at least in terms of claiming championships, is systemic. Few teams have won the title using a back three because not many sides have played a back three. The global tournament win in the 1960s reified in the national mindset the effectiveness of defensive organization with a four defenders.

This stayed the default, almost without question, for the two decades that ensued. But there could additionally be particular strategic explanations. A three-man backline gets its width from the wide players; it could be that the extreme high-energy nature of the English game makes the requirement on those players excessive to be maintained regularly.

But the 3-4-2-1 presents particular challenges. It is solid, providing the compact structure – three central defenders protected by defensive midfielders – that is commonly recognised as the most effective way to guard against opposition fast breaks. But that is only one phase of the game. If they push forward from the cover of the three centre‑backs, considering the common use of formations with a midfield triangle, a pair of central midfielders will often be outmanned without support from other areas – except if a single player has the exceptional gifts of Kanté.

The striker celebrates after scoring his team’s additional goal versus the Ukrainian side.

Advantages and Limitations of the Approach

The inherent solidity of that compact 3-2 shape, meanwhile, while an advantage for a team looking to absorb pressure, becomes a potential disadvantage for a side that seek to take the game to the rival. Its greatest strength is also its greatest flaw. The blockish structure of the formation, the way the midfield is split into defensive players and attack-minded players – all No 6s and No 10s in current terminology, with zero box-to-box midfielders – means that without a player to move between lines there is a risk of predictability; again, the Blues had the perfect man to fill that role, David Luiz often striding ahead from the back three to become an extra central option.

Contrasting Approaches at Selhurst and Old Trafford

Palace aren’t concerned about that. They have the second-lowest ball control of all side in the top division. It’s not their role to have the ball. And that’s the primary reason why a straightforward comparison with Manchester United’s difficulties is difficult. United, by tradition and by demand, cannot be the team with the second-lowest possession in the Premier League.

Even if United opted to play on the break against opposing top sides, the majority of their matches will be against opponents who sit deep and could be happy enough with a draw. In the bulk of games there is an pressure on them to control the ball.

Perhaps a progressive team could play a three-at-the-back system but it requires very particular players – as the Italian coach possessed at Stamford Bridge. The Austrian’s achievement with it has come at Lask and the German clubs, where he has been able to have his side defend compactly and break at speed.

Palace have beaten West Ham and West Ham, because the majority of sides do at the present, held the Blues, and torn the Reds apart on the break. But they’ve additionally drawn at home to Nottingham Forest and Sunderland, and struggled to overcome Fredrikstad. Defend deeply against them and they have difficulty for invention.

Adaptation and Future Possibilities

Would the manager adapt if he moved