Six ways Ruben Amorim can learn from Oliver Glasner and Crystal Palace in bid to make 3-4-3 work at Man Utd

Wing-backs are utterly essential to a 3-4-3 system and Amorim has struggled to get a tune out of the men he has chosen to perform the role. Amad Diallo is the one exception as he has been one of the few players to continue to shine over the last year although playing at wing-back does not really suit his strengths.

While Amad has been able to demonstrate his attacking quality as an inverted wing-back and has struck up a promising partnership with Bryan Mbeumo, playing further back than his natural role as a right winger has its pitfalls. His defensive shortcomings were exposed against Nottingham Forest and he is not helped by being forced to defend on his weaker right side. 

The same is true of Diogo Dalot although for different reasons. Dalot is naturally right-footed but is often deployed as left-wing-back, meaning he struggles to cause damage going outside defenders and routine goes inside, making it easier to defend against. Gary Neville was furious with Amorim for bringing Dalot on against Everton to replace Patrick Dorgu, while Jamie Carragher previously said of the Portugal international in this position: “He can’t beat a man. He’s not going to play a clever pass, he’s not going to get a cross in.”

Glasner has gone for a simpler approach, playing the right-footed Daniel Munoz at right-wing-back and the left-footed Tyrick Mitchell on the opposite flank. Munoz has contributed to 17 Premier League goals since joining Palace in January 2024. Mitchell has 11 goal contributions since the start of the 2023-24 campaign. 

The numbers only tell half of the story though: the wing-backs’ legs and lungs are a big reason why Glasner’s team are so dangerous going forward on the break. Mitchell and Munoz both currently rank in the top five in the Premier League for distance covered, according to OPTA.