Ralf Rangnick employed an “intelligent” tactic to help Manchester United’s defenders cope with Burnley ’s style of play in Thursday’s win, according to Ally McCoist.
United beat the Clarets 3-1 at Old Trafford to move into the top six of the Premier League.
Scott McTominay was the star of the show, opening the scoring with a low shot from the edge of the box before Ben Mee diverted Jadon Sancho’s effort in to make it 2-0.
Cristiano Ronaldo tapped in a rebound after Wayne Hennessey kept out another McTominay strike before Aaron Lennon reduced the deficit with a precise finish into the bottom corner.
Both sides had further chances, but the score remained at 3-1 to give Rangnick the most convincing win of his tenure as interim manager.
Former Rangers striker McCoist was on commentary duty for the match and was particularly impressed with a tactical aspect of Rangnick’s approach to the game, which involved McTominay at the other end of the pitch.
"This is an interesting tactic there,” McCoist said on Prime Video’s coverage.
"When they're going long, McTominay is actually dropping back to pick up [Chris] Wood, which allows the two centre-backs to keep position.
"Quite intelligent really."
Harry Maguire played alongside Eric Bailly on Thursday, with the Ivory Coast international playing ahead of Raphael Varane in one of six changes from the 1-1 draw with Newcastle.
Maguire, in particular, has looked out of form recently and it was his indecisive defending which allowed Lennon to carry the ball into the box and beat David de Gea with a low shot.
United have kept two clean sheets since Rangnick’s arrival, in 1-0 wins over Crystal Palace and Norwich, but the central defence has looked shaky at times under the German.
Dropping McTominay into defence to deal with Burnley’s direct style of play proved to be an astute move, although Wood did spurn a free header in the opening stages from Ashley Westwood’s cross.
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United are unbeaten in five games under Rangnick, but McTominay believes the players still have to focus on getting the basics right.
"It is about adapting to new methods,” he told Prime Video. “We have to go back to the basics of football. We have to tackle, we have to run, we have to create.
"If we are not running and competing in the first 15 minutes it is going to be difficult, no matter what the quality of our forward players.
"We want to enjoy football, there is too much negativity, and if you enjoy it you will end up playing well."
He added: "Probably first half as a team was [the best display under Rangnick]. We were a bit flat in the second half for whatever reason.
"We need to get that for a full 90 minutes, which we haven't really had this year.
"But we are learning and adapting. The game against Newcastle was difficult and we have to bounce back from that.
"The manager said we set the record for the most amount of turnovers in the league. We had to keep the ball better."
