The 5-0 defeat to Liverpool proved the undignified goodbye. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was sacked. Manchester United were swift to heed reports stemming from Antonio Conte’s camp that he wanted to take over at Old Trafford. They appointed the Italian, celebrating the chance to get an immediate upgrade.
Much of that is untrue. United felt frightened by the prospect of the madman in the technical area and soon distanced themselves from such suggestions. Solskjaer survived for another four games, beating Tottenham in the first. They duly dismissed Nuno Espirito Santo and hired Conte. After the Norwegian was finally fired, Ralf Rangnick emerged as the preferred interim option.
But Saturday at Old Trafford offers an intriguing comparison: the manager United could have hired against the one they did. And it presents a vision of an alternative United, one coached, coaxed and criticised by Conte. It is safe to assume they would not have had an ill-advised flirtation with 4-2-2-2 under him.
If it is tempting to wonder how Conte’s United might have looked, his recent jobs offer some guide. It feels almost certain he would have fielded a back three. The greatest beneficiary may have been a struggler this season: Harry Maguire, who could have occupied the role on the left that he has filled so well for England. Conte is not averse to a deep defence, as he showed at the Etihad Stadium when Tottenham won there, and that might have suited Maguire. If he would have been faced with the problem that the outstanding choice to operate as the middle centre-back, Raphael Varane, is often injured, it would have been intriguing if Aaron Wan-Bissaka, whose attacking deficiencies have been all too apparent at Old Trafford, had been reinvented as the right-sided centre-back.
The midfield would have presented Conte with two reunions: Nemanja Matic from his Chelsea days and Paul Pogba, whose best club form came for Juventus. While Conte has spent much of his time in the Premier League playing 3-4-3, his Scudetti with Juventus and Internazionale came when he deployed a 3-5-2 formation more often. That might have felt his logical shape at Old Trafford, allowing Pogba to reprise the left-sided No. 8 role he filled so well in Turin, with Bruno Fernandes presumably his right-sided counterpart, charged with imitating Inter’s Nicolo Barella. That, in turn, would leave a choice between Scott McTominay and Fred, two staples of Rangnickball. Conte’s January move for Rodrigo Bentancur at Tottenham showed how he can want a better passer at the base of the midfield.
Conte’s recent feat of reviving the careers of Ryan Sessegnon and Matt Doherty is a reminder he can be a byword for wing-backs. If Luke Shaw and Alex Telles are each equipped to fill that role on the left, his more maverick streak is sometimes shown on the right. He tried to sign Adama Traore to play there: he famously reinvented winger Victor Moses as a wing-back. Perhaps, then, would Jadon Sancho or Jesse Lingard have been tasked with becoming a one-man right flank?
In attack, Conte has a fondness for strike partnerships and a habit of making centre-forwards prolific. United, in contrast, have only scored more than one goal in five games under Rangnick. Cristiano Ronaldo only has three goals for him. If Conte’s mantra of work, work and more work, much like Rangnick’s status as the godfather of gegenpressing, prompted questions about what he would do with an immobile attacker, and the Italian’s lack of diplomacy may have meant he was less willingness to compromise, he could have brought issues to a head. Given Marcus Rashford’s current struggles, it would be instructive if Conte had rejuvenated him.
Certainly his attention to detail and positional nous has helped many another. Equally, his impatience is soon apparent. Given how quick he was exile Dele Alli, Tanguy Ndombele, Giovani Lo Celso and Bryan Gil, the presumption is that he would have ushered some United players to the exits in January; the questions instead would have been who and how many. And given his fixation with transfers, he would have set about remodelling the team in his style, whereas Rangnick signed no one. As Tottenham bid for Luis Diaz, perhaps he would instead have figured on an Old Trafford shopping list.
What can be said is that Conte’s United would have been very different. They are scarcely a classic Rangnick team now. They might instead have been some way on the potentially bumpy journey to becoming a Conte side.
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