After several weeks of doing it his way, Ralf Rangnick decided to go the players' route on Monday night as the Manchester United manager tinkered again to try and find a working formula.
Rangnick imposed his unusual 4-2-2-2 system as soon as he took up office at Carrington but after a promising start against Crystal Palace, it has gradually unravelled.
It's been tried with more width and tried with less width, but the overwhelming feeling has been that it hasn't been clicking.
So for the FA Cup third-round tie with Aston Villa it was back to a 4-2-3-1 and a shape and personnel that bore plenty of hallmarks of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's era.
There was Scott McTominay and Fred in midfield, Bruno Fernandes as the free-spirited No 10, homegrown attackers Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood on the wing and Edinson Cavani as the willing workaholic in the attack.
But it didn't work. United were better going forward but, as has so often been the case this season, they had no control in the game. They were second best for large periods and fortunate to find themselves in the fourth round.
Part of the reason they survived a Villa onslaught in the second half is that Rangnick switched systems with 18 minutes to go, bringing on Donny van de Beek for Cavani and moving to a diamond. It added a semblance of control to the performance and created some better counter-attacking opportunities.
Until then United had struggled with Villa's superiority in midfield, with Douglas Luiz, John McGinn, Jacob Ramsey and Emi Buendia finding it too easy to progress up the pitch. That changed when United had Fred, McTominay, Van de Beek and Fernandes working in central areas.
So when the two teams meet again at Villa Park tonight — this time with three points on the line — there will be a temptation to roll the dice again and start with a 4-4-2 diamond.
Rangnick said after Monday's game it was clear United needed to play with three midfielders, but Fernandes is often drawn into attack and can leave the central midfield area exposed. Bringing in Van de Beek for a first meaningful Premier League start in 13 months would shore up the numbers in that area, especially against a team that Rangnick himself admitted play very narrow.
But it's not that simple. Every positional switch has a knock-on effect and for United, this would mean losing width in attacking areas. Jadon Sancho was signed for £73million this summer as an old-fashioned winger and Rashford and Greenwood also do their best work from out wide.
Moving to a system with four central midfielders would mean the width has to come from full-back, but that's not an area where United are strong. Diogo Dalot is a better attacking right-back than Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Luke Shaw and Alex Telles are both reasonable down the left, but none of that trio is as decisive or aggressive in the final third as their counterparts at Manchester City, Liverpool or Chelsea.
That isn't necessarily a problem if their roles don't demand that. Liverpool and Chelsea both get a significant portion of their creativity from their full-backs and City's play a slightly different — but still creative — role. United haven't required that with Fernandes at his best and width coming from the front three.
But if that system changes it will demand more thrust from Dalot and Telles, with Shaw suspended today. United will have more control in a diamond, but they won't find it easy to create chances.
That is the balance Rangnick is trying to find at the moment. He doesn't have a perfect set of cards in his hand and if he prioritises one area it will have knock-on effects elsewhere. You would back United's interim manager to get it right eventually, but once again there's no ideal solution today.
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