Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done a few simple things to reset Manchester United's playing style. The defensive line has been pushed further up the pitch, fullbacks are free - and encouraged - to sprint into advanced, wide positions, and players go onto the pitch with an attacking, forward-thinking mentality. Cardiff, Huddersfield, Newcastle and Bournemouth were all blown out of the water.
Next up is Spurs, a side managed by a man many believe is United's first choice of permanent manager. Does Solskjaer have the tactical nous to ensure United's return to form continues? Or has Mauricio Pochettino worked out how to derail the momentum train?
NARROW SPURS VS WIDE UNITED
Pochettino has settled on a 4-1-2-1-2 (4-4-2 diamond) formation which allows Harry Kane and Heung-min Son to start up top together in front of the many talented central midfielders that Spurs have. This narrow shape relies on the fullbacks getting forward to provide width and means that Spurs' attacking play is often focused through the middle of the pitch.
In the Carabao Cup semifinal first-leg win over Chelsea, much of Spurs' play went straight from defenders to attackers, bypassing the midfield with direct passes to get on the front foot quickly and not spend time passing sideways to allow Chelsea time to get back into their defensive shape. Since so many attacking players - Christian Eriksen, Kane, Son and Dele Alli - are so close together on the pitch, Spurs could then link passes in the opposition half, having bypassed the high press.
United's wingers absolutely must track Spurs' fullbacks to prevent them getting forward and opening up the pitch, while also being in position ready to counterattack down the channels.
When United win the ball in their own half, the space is behind the fullbacks.
Solskjaer can have his team sit a little deeper without losing the attacking counter-attack running that has been so successful in their previous five games.
SPURS WILL TRY TO PUT OLE IN A CORNER
Out of possession, Spurs will put up a midfield barrier to protect the defence. Although the space behind the fullbacks is where United may look to hit direct passes, teams tend to score from shots taken within the width of the box - not from wide. If there's no space in the middle of the pitch, it's hard to have a ping on goal.
This 4-3-1-2 shape forces teams to either send hopeful crosses from wide into the box to be headed away by one of Spurs' giant centrebacks, or shoot from distance into a wall of bodies.
That's what happened to Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semifinal first leg anyway, with Maurizio Sarri's side clearly lacking a striker or anyone to aim crosses towards, attacking more like a wooden stick than a sword.
As a result, the wide forwards ran out of ideas and took harmless shots after wasteful shots from distance. Most landed in the stands. For this reason we may see Romelu Lukaku start as a nine at Wembley, with Marcus Rashford moved to the wing to accommodate him.
DEFENSIVE NIGHTMARES
United's defence really isn't great, and Pochettino will know it. An early siege could yield a (few) goal(s) - Spurs' best form of defence might be to attack and unsettle the back line. Solskjaer must choose his centreback pairing carefully. Phil Jones, in particular, is too easily caught out of position and makes mistakes on the ball.
With Kane and Son dovetailing to attack, any slight error or miscommunication will open up chances to score. Situations like the one which allowed Kane to run in behind the back line against Chelsea must not be allowed to take place.
Ander Herrera will be key to blocking these types of through-passes and for United winning the ball back. He has made 24 interceptions since December - the most of any player in the league - and does much of the ball recovering duties in the midfield, providing necessary protection for the United defence.
United have pressed opposition players high up the pitch since Solskjaer took charge, engaging the man on the ball near the opposition box and looking to cover passing lanes too.
Will they attempt the same thing against such a strong side? Or will Solskjaer do as Sir Alex Ferguson (and Jose Mourinho...) did and wait more patiently to win the ball at halfway and counter from there?
DEALING WITH SON AND KANE
United have been working on different formations and tactics for their upcoming games during a warm weather training trip in Dubai. It's quite possible that one of those new team shapes features three centrebacks - a direct response to Spurs playing two strikers.
Three-centreback formations were originally developed as a way to gain numerical advantage over two strikers, which makes sense on paper against Son and Kane. However, Spurs' strike pairing like to move around a lot, with Son tending to stay more advanced and Kane dropping to operate in the 10 space.
For that reason, three centrebacks might not actually make sense - two defenders would be left either marking thin air or required to step out of position during defensive phases to stay shirt-tight to Kane and Eriksen.
With two centrebacks we may see Nemanja Matic and another midfielder, Herrera or perhaps Marouane Fellaini, stay close to the defence, creating a box that suffocates the space Spurs' forwards will try to play in.
If the wingers track Spurs' fullbacks, Pochettino's side loses all their width and the attacking plan can be nullified, if not, at least, muted.
GETTING THE STRATEGY RIGHT
Pochettino can't be sure how Solskjaer will approach this game, which gives the United boss something of an advantage. However, Pochettino can ready his team to either take the game to United or sit a little deeper and wait for - hopefully naive - waves of attack to leave the defensive part of their team vulnerable, and punish them on the counter.
The key for both sides is balance and game management.
There are risks to both strategies but Spurs' home advantage and United's defensive fragility means attacking them is, perhaps, a more likely way of getting a result than depending on Rashford, Lukaku and Anthony Martial failing to create in front of goal.
The best thing Solskjaer has done for United is to make them entertaining. The next step of his audition for the permanent job is getting results against teams like Spurs - regardless of how much fun it is to watch.
- Telegraph..