Perhaps a classic formation, Mike Bassett-esque some might argue, but the bread-and-butter system of English football could find itself open to interpretation. With the traditional system asking for plenty of contribution from the wingers to deliver from wide areas, Van Gaal proved that all may not be as it appeared while coaching AZ Alkmaar. On the surface, the base positions are that of an orthodox 4-4-2, but when breaking forward, United's full-backs would be the ones endeavouring to break beyond and overlap the men in front of them to provide the real width in attack. In central midfield, both players would be given less license to get forward and therefore sit in, with the wide midfielders drifting infield and allowing their full-backs to gallivant beyond. One striker would be left as the out-and-out forward, most presumably Van Persie, but Rooney could be asked to drop a little bit off his strike-partner to either link up play or prey on the second ball from his Dutch teammate. With plenty of offensive runs from both Van Gaal's wide men infield and his full-backs stretching play to create angles in the final third, life would be difficult for the opposition should the Red Devils look to play in a counter-attacking style. There's danger of the central defensive two being exposed, despite the presence of the two holding central midfield players ahead of them, but when transitioning upfield with midfield runners pressing the second ball and closing passing lanes, the opposition might not have the time nor quality to pick their forward passes accurately enough to hurt Man United when they are numerically weak at the back.
