When Morgan Schneiderlin and Bastian Schweinsteiger joined the club in the summer, many were asking who would drop out of the Manchester United team to accommodate them.
Michael Carrick had, after all, just had one of his best seasons at the club and was looking imperious despite his veteran status.
As it turned out, that question was pretty much redundant and has become yet another innovation used by Louis van Gaal to great effect.
Because the Manchester United boss has clearly planned carefully for a long season and he has offered these three the perfect job share.
Exactly what United needs
Carrick and Schweinsteiger are still two of the best midfielders in the game and, in the very biggest ties, LvG will hope to have them both fit and fresh enough to start.
But this wouldn’t be possible without the addition of Schniederlin. At 25 he had superb athleticism and provides the legs when the engine room is tiring.
He may not yet have the finesse of the aforementioned masters. But he provides the perfect pool of talent in that area of the park.
Van Gaal will simply rotate these three trusted players all season. He can pick and choose the games where the control of the older men is required in tandem – they are imperious together – but he also has a top class alternative for when his generals are tired. Or injured as withbCarrick right now.
This approach should keep all three fresh for the second half of the season.
But, more importantly, it should assuage any concerns from the media and fans that Manchester United had a scattergun approach to their summer transfer business.
Because Louis van Gaal has sorted put a problem that has existed for years.
