To add extra solidity to the United back line, he instructed his wingers to track the opposition full-backs, with his team then often forming a back line of six (below).
José Mourinho used a low block on occasions with both Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as with Inter Milan earlier in his career. To add extra solidity to the United back line, he instructed his wingers to track the opposition full-backs, with his team then often forming a back line of six (below). With Tottenham, meanwhile, the double pivot in Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 would fill in gaps in the back line to create a unit of six, with the wingers narrowing to form a three in the second line.