After switching to a new-look formation that sparkled against Queens Park Rangers last weekend, a diamond may just be Louis van Gaal's new best friend as the Manchester United boss looks set to continue with it against Leicester City on Sunday.
United claimed their first three points of the season thanks to an emphatic 4-0 victory over QPR, lifting the gloom that had descended upon Old Trafford after they failed to win their opening three matches.
Van Gaal ditched his 3-5-2 formation in favour of a midfield diamond and it worked wonders against QPR as Daley Blind protected United's back four while Ander Herrera, Juan Mata and Angel Di Maria provided service for strikers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie.
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"I started with another system (at the beginning of the season) because of the quality of the players," Van Gaal told a news conference on Friday.
"Now we have bought quality players in and you have to look at these qualities and then perform the philosophy that we have. But that can change also. It is not a fixed solution."
Colombia striker Radamel Falcao, who has joined on-loan from Monaco, started on the bench against QPR and United's new-found attacking riches have given Van Gaal plenty to think about ahead of the trip to 12th-placed Leicester.
"I don't think that Falcao interfered with Van Persie (against QPR) or that he interfered with Falcao," the 63-year-old former Bayern Munich manager said.
"Falcao is a very good striker, I already said that when he came here in his first press conference. I like Van Persie as well - he is also a very good striker.
"Then we have Wayne Rooney and Adnan Januzaj, and we also have James Wilson. We have five players for the two striker positions and I have to choose."
Young Belgian Januzaj has been the man to miss out in recent weeks and Van Gaal has urged the 19-year-old to rise to the standard set by United's other attacking options.
"He (Januzaj) has to compete with very good players," the Dutchman added. "You cannot put 15 players in the squad, only 11, and with this system he has to compete with a lot of very strong strikers."
The Champions League returned in emphatic style this week, with matchday one of the group stage serving up some late drama, stunning shocks and almighty thrashings.
Selecting 11 players from so many standout performers is always a tough task, but here, Goal presents the first team of the week of the Champions League in 2014-15.
In goal, Joe Hart may have looked a little uncertain when it came to crosses, but the England No.1 pulled off a series of saves to frustrate Bayern Munich, and he deserved better than to be on the losing side by virtue of a deflected late goal.
Mario Sergio was superb for APOEL in their narrow defeat to Barcelona, the experienced Portuguese keeping Neymar frustrated for much of the 90 minutes while providing a brilliant last-minute block to deny Lionel Messi. Neven Subotic earns a centre-back spot after his towering display in keeping the Arsenal attack firmly on the fringes, and he is partnered by Bayern's match-winner Jerome Boateng, who performed well against the physical Edin Dzeko before snatching all three points with a brilliant half-volley.Alex Sandro completes the back four - the Brazilian returned to Porto's starting XI in inspired fashion, linking up brilliantly down the left flank as the Portuguese giants tore BATE to shreds.
In midfield, the star of week one - Yacine Brahimi - earns a place on the wing following his sensational hat-trick against BATE which firmly announced his presence on the biggest European stage. Axel Witsel came back to haunt former club Benfica on Tuesday, delivering a tireless and dominant display in the heart of Zenit's midfield - as well as scoring the decisive second goal. James Rodriguez gets the nod from Real Madrid's thrashing of Basel, as the Colombian linked up superbly with the front three as well as scoring his first Champions League goal for his new club to help alleviate some of the pressure on his young shoulders.Gervinho completes the midfield quartet after inspiring Roma to a thrashing of CSKA, in which he grabbed two goals and generally gave the Russians a nightmare 90 minutes.
Up front, Carlos Tevez ended his five-year wait for goals in Europe's top tournament to ensure Juventus began their campaign with a victory over Malmo. He is joined by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who caused Arsenal huge problems with his direct running and was only denied from adding to his solitary goal by the crossbar and the outstretched hands of Wojciech Szczesny.
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