For me, a player like Ballack was closer to a midfield general, being strong in the air, able to create, tackle and shoot from a distance.

Before Gerrard was shunted to the right or to support Torres, he played in a similar position, even during the days when he still wore no. 17.

While AC Milan seldom use the 4-4-2, for me Seedorf and Pirlo would’ve made a great midfield partnership. Gattuso was fantastic as well.

There is no telling whether either would work out, but I certainly feel they would impose themselves in the side alot more than Carrick does. At least I hope they would.

I also like the look of Alexis Sanchez. I’m not sure either Bebe or Obertan are going to cut it and Sanchez is starting to look like a top player in Italy. With Nani, Sanchez and Valencia all fighting for a place on the flanks I think United will have enough pace and creativity to strike fear into Europe’s elite.

This problem occured about 6 or 7 years ago. Keane had retired, Becks had left and United were failing to bring in ready made replacements. We had Liam Miller, Djemba-Djemba, Alan Smith, Kleberson, Veron and others who just failed to adjust and improve the team.

I still have a feeling that Anderson has a bright future. I like him, but Ferguson only ever seems to introduce him late into games or hauls him off at the earliest opportunity, whilst leaving Carrick and Fletcher on.

I’d guess that Fergie has more trust and belief in the latter two than he does for the Brazilian. Anderson is still young and given a full season in the middle of the park, I do think he can become the midfield maestro United have been craving.

The Champions League is drawing to a close which means that the competition is getting fierce. Also, in the Premier League United have Chelsea coming up, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea again and in those games United have to be versatile and ruthless – something they just can’t be with their current midfield.

What United don’t want is another footballing lesson which Barcelona provided in Rome in the 2009 Champions League Final.

Carrick, Fletcher and Park were embarresingly exposed that night and although Barca’s midfield is widely regarded as one of the best the game has ever known, the class of United’s midfield shouldn’t be so far behind in terms of technical ability and in their ability to move the ball intelligently to the front men.

I may be surprised. Perhaps the likes of Carrick and Fletcher will lead United to Champions League and Premiership glory, I just don’t see it. If United are to achieve anything it is to be their resilience at the back and firepower going forward, not the midfield.

And they just won 4 against Wigan. I mean there are always better players that you want out there and the game is changing and you want to improve places that are not performing in the team but you don’t have to make Man U sound like they’re in dire straits right now.

This season with Man United it seems like they haven’t been playing a certain formation consistently enough, switching far too often between 4-4-2 and 4-3-3 and in the case with the Marseille game Rooney was dropping so deep at times it looked like tey were playing a 4-5-1 formation. I assume when Valencia is fit they will play a 4-4-2 with him on the right and Nani on the left, add into that the possibility of Modric playing in the centre and maybe another centre midfielder, either Schweinstieger or De Rossi would be my recomendations and you’ve got a pretty solid midfield there.

I think at some point every club will go through the stage of not having a great centre midfielder and unluckily for Man United it seems to be happening for them now.

As for Gibson, I’ve been impressed with him in certain games, but he lacks consistency. I didn’t realise that he was 24 either. If he hasn’t cracked into the team at this age, it doesn’t look like he’s going to.

I think, that the formation and how the team plays depends upon the manager’s philosophy and how they see the game should be played.

I mean, you can’t compare Wenger’s 4321 with Jose’s or Rafa’s, they all play differently.

But the common ingredient is that players specialise in each team and really couldn’t play 442 at the highest level, bar the odd couple.

Its almost like the last 20 years happened in one day.

I would even go as far as to say that the last great midfielder the English game produced was Roy Keane. For me the Irishman is head and shoulders above Scholes, great as he is.