After months of fiddling and flapping, and after a season of talk regarding "philosophy" and whatnot, Louis van Gaal's men have ended up in a 4-3-3 formation. It's his bread and butter—the formation he has always claimed to be strictly allied to—and while the journey to it has taken several twists and turns, there's a certain feeling of inevitability to the fact that Manchester United have played their best football operating out of it.
A four-game win streak ended abruptly with a loss to Chelsea, where a Michael Carrick-less United fumbled and flailed in midfield, dominating possession but not really doing a lot with it.