Manchester United's hierarchy reportedly felt compelled to address the team's tactical predictability after comments from Fulham manager Marco Silva and midfielder Alex Iwobi following a 1-1 draw in August.
According to the Daily Mail, United's director of recruitment Christopher Vivell shared quotes from the post-match interviews in a WhatsApp group with other leadership figures. Silva had explained how Fulham exploited United's defensive set-up, stating: 'We know they play with two in the middle, we tried to overload with our three plus Alex [Iwobi].' Iwobi added: 'We knew that we would be able to get behind their two midfielders.'
The incident is said to have prompted a change in approach, with head coach Ruben Amorim adopting a more flexible system against Bournemouth in a 4-4 draw last month. However, the team reverted to a 3-4-3 formation in a subsequent 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Wolves.
United ended the 2024/25 season 15th in the Premier League and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham. This season, they sit sixth in the table, three points off the top four, despite an early Carabao Cup exit on penalties to Grimsby Town.
