Obviously everybody wants football to return as soon as possible once the diabolical coronavirus pandemic finally exits the scene.
Over at Old Trafford, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is eager to assemble his players and pitch together the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Odion Ighalo with his key players like Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba who have been out of action due to injuries when the Premier League returns.
This will indeed be a welcome sign that things are returning to normal after the vast devastation and gloom caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The resumption of competitive Premier League, Europa League and FA Cup action would understandably be exciting and much looked forward to for Old Trafford and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, not to mention the club’s supporters as United is gearing up to have an enthralling team with a new formation.
As it were, Bruno Fernandes has yet to play alongside Marcus Rashford and Paul Pogba, for that matter. Neither too has Odion Ighalo played with either Rashford or Pogba. The thought of these players working out their permutations and firing from all cylinders on the pitch together is indeed salivating.
Solskjaer has had to often tweak his tactics to offset the sometimes limited talent at his disposal, having had to make do without such key players like Rashford and Pogba, plus Anthony Martial, Scott McTominay and Luke Shaw, for considerable portions of the season, hence the lapses in consistency.
The Norwegian can now finally fit all the talent at his disposal into the system he’s planning for all this while at Old Trafford.
Immediately after replacing Jose Mourinho, Solskjaer favoured a diamond formation although this didn’t suit the playing styles of Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Jesse Lingard. The square pegs in round holes quandary followed through with rookies like Daniel James, Mason Greenwood and Andreas Pereira later in the season.
But now with all the members of his squad fit and able to give their best, his diamond formation would be ideal with the current crop.
Fernandes is a true-blue No.10 and and would be a perfect him link up with top scorer Rashford. Just imagine him playing in the pocket behind Rashford and Martial.
Pogba would be ideal for one of the two midfield roles behind Fernandes, most comfortable on the left with the security of a defensive midfielder behind him. Fred, Scott McTominay and Nemanja Matic would fit any of the other two midfield berths. This promises loads of creativity and attacking fire power.
The frontline of six would also be immensely exciting, with Solskjaer then having the luxury of bringing players like James, Greenwood and Ighalo off the bench to create an impact. Meanwhile, the back five is also nicely in place right now. And we are talking about a scenario that has not factored in any summer transfers as yet that could well happen, with the possibility of the likes of Jadon Sancho joining the squad.
No wonder then that there’s this glint in the Norwegian’s eyes now as he struts about like a proud hen gathering the chicks together to resume training.
About high time too!