The Manchester United Christmas Tree
Much has been written about Manchester United’s Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim’s team formation, and its three-at-the back, together with wing backs; at left and right. Instead of what the Italians call the English sistema, with defending full backs at left and right, and central defenders, twinned in the center; in front of the ‘keeper, Belgium’s Senne Lammens, after his £18.1m September 1st, 2025, transfer from Belgian club, Royal Antwerp, and behind the midfield. The importance of Harry Maguire, as a left sided central defender, is essential to understanding Amorim’s formation. That it’s crucial to have a left footed defender on the left of the three was underscored in Ruben’s having Ayden Heaven transferred from Arsenal for £1.5m on February 1st, 2025, with the subsequent loss of left sided Argentine center back, Lisandro Martínez, to a cruciate ligament injury, after his colliding with Senegal winger, Ismaïla Sarr, during the home defeat to Crystal Palace, 0-2, on February 2nd, 2025, and the score, 0-1, in the 82nd minute.
Although left back, Luke Shaw, and Noussair Mazraoui, left back at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar for Morocco, and in their third place play off against Croatia, lost 1-2, on December 17th at Khalifa International Stadium (KIS), Al-Rayyah, were given the role of left central defender on occasion, Shaw is a left full back, while Mazraoui, a ‘devout Moslem’, in accordance with Islamic belief about the haraam nature of the left, that is, it’s ‘forbidden’, remained adamant on his preference for his right foot, after his transfer from German Bundesliga club, FC Bayern Munich, on August 13th, 2024, for €15m, which is problematic for a left back/left center back required to use the left foot against prejudice.
Amorim’s system relies on defensive and attacking wing backs, where defensive wing backs are required to defend in the role of full backs, in the event of the flanks being threatened by a winger, for example, Chelsea’s Cole Palmer, with too much pace, and ball control, for United’s Portuguese right full back, Diogo Dalot, to be able to deal with comfortably. If attacked down the right flank in Ruben’s United system, Dalot drops back from the right wing back position to assume the right full back role, which is according to his nature, as he’s a right full back by trade, and Maguire shifts over into the left full back position on the left flank, while the other two central defenders of the three-at-the-back system take up the familiar role of twinned center halves, flanked by left and right full backs.
With Denmark’s Patrick Dorgu, as the left wing back, Amorim’s system is to have Dorgu drop back to defend, in the event of an attack down the left flank, which means Maguire moving into the center, twinned with Holland’s Matthijs de Ligt, for example, while French center back, Leny Yoro, for example, moves into the full back position on the right. However, if Ruben selects attacking wing backs, either from the start, or from the substitutes available during the course of a game, the team shapes up as a ‘Christmas tree’, with inverted wing backs, and inverted inside forwards, funneling the ball towards the opposition goalmouth. Ivory Coast’s Amad Diallo, as a left footed inverted right wing back, or inside right, is crucial to this aspect of the system, while Brazil’s Matheus Cunha, as a right footed inverted inside left, and Moroccan Bryan Mbeumo, as a left footed inside right, with Slovenia’s Benjamin Šeško at center forward, defines the funnel.
The logic of selecting Diogo Dalot, as a right footed left wing back, in the absence of a genuine inverted attacking left wing back, is due to the requirements of the funnel system of inversion. Although the ‘Christmas tree’ will often appear ‘lopsided’, and function in a way seemingly ‘unbalanced’, with the left, or right side, preferred as the attacking option, Amorim’s is a systematic formation, with the ball funneled down either flank, assisted by the midfield pairing of ‘playmaker’ and captain, Portugal’s Bruno Fernandes, with either a defensive midfielder, for example, Brazilian Casemiro, Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte, or Kobbie Mainoo; or inverted left, right footed Mason Mount; the available attacking midfielder.
Apart from center forward Marcus Rashford’s season-long loan to Spain’s FC Barcelona, the decision to transfer Argentine out-and-out right winger, Alejandro Garnacho to Chelsea on August 30th, 2025, for £40m, and not to retain Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen, reduced Fernandes’ midfield support options in attack for 2025-26. An attribute of the ‘Christmas tree’ is that the presents to be opened can usually be discerned by December 25th.
Losing the 2025 Europa Cup Final, 0-1 to Spurs, on May 21st, 2025, at the stadium of Athletic Club, Nuevo San Mamés, Bilbao, Spain, and failing to qualify for European competition, through league standing, the club finishing the 2024-25 season 15th, or by success in the EFL or FA Cup, meant only the EFL Cup, FA Cup, and Premier League title were achievable in 2025-26, and the club went out of the EFL Cup at the second round, 2-2, and 11-12 on penalties, at fourth tier Grimsby Town’s Blundell Park on August 27th, 2025. With the FA Cup beginning for the Premier League clubs at the third round stage on January 10th, 2026, if Amorim couldn’t improve the side, and its league position, that would be all there’d be to play for.
Comparisons are useful. In manager Ernest Mangnall’s successful sides of the 1900s, the half back line, with full backs, meant five-at-the-back, with five across the park, in what was called the ‘forward line’. The three-at-the back were Dick Duckworth, Charlie Roberts, and Scot, Alex Bell, with the formation winning the league title in 1908 and 1911, and the FA Cup in 1909. Essentially the team contained no midfield players, but lined up as left and right wingers, left and right inside forwards, and a center forward, with the half back line flanked by left and right full backs.
Scot, Matt Busby’s 1948 FA Cup winning team’s half backs were John Anderson, Allenby Chilton, and Henry Cockburn, and the manager’s preference for a half-back line would win him the 1968 European Champions Clubs’ Cup on May 29th at London’s national Wembley stadium, 4-1 (1-1), a.e.t., against Portuguese club, Benfica of Lisbon.
Not until the 1969-70 season, when reserve team coach, former left half back, Wilf McGuinness, and ‘Busby Babe’, the collective name of players coached by Busby, inherited the squad as manager, did the half back line disappear from the match program. Where fans were used to seeing the names of Scot, right half Paddy Crerand, center half Bill Foulkes, and left half Nobby Stiles, as a threesome between the full backs, Foulkes and Stiles were made distinct as a defensive partnership in the center, with Paddy’s role, as a central midfielder, being indicated on the team sheet, alongside deep-lying, ‘false center forward’, Bobby Charlton, formerly part of the forward line.
Amorim’s three-at-the-back signaled a return to the half-back line, flanked by left and right wing backs, though not a renewal of the forward line, with Cunha, Šeško, and Mbeumo a front three, and Fernandes and Mount in central midfield. An improved half-back line would mean finding a center back, who could augment the midfield and attack, in the style of Harry Maguire’s April 10th, 2025, winning header, on 120+1 minutes, in the Europa Cup quarter-final, second leg, at Old Trafford against French club, Lyon, 5-4 (2-2), a.e.t., aggregate 7-6, or using the two half backs, usually found alongside the center half as defenders only, in midfield, with the two wing backs able to drop back, as full backs, and the center half between, to maintain the three-at-the-back formation. Although changes to the playing staff would be required.
The late 20th century demanded differentiation in terms of position. The abandonment of five-at-the-back, and five-up-front, was a logical concomitant of the rise of the utility midfielder, but 21st century soccer, demanding a further degree of specialization, meant a return to the back five and the front five, with players able to move more easily between defence, midfield, and attack.
Less restricted in their role, requiring more flexibility, ability became more important than identifying with the position in which it was nominally exercised. Though defending and attacking are distinct concepts, that’s soccer. The distinction isn’t so rigorous as to deny ability to the back line. It’s the key to forward movement.