Manchester United League Cup Final XI: Who Do Fans Want to See at Wembley?

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How many of those who played in the Community Shield will feature against Southampton?
How many of those who played in the Community Shield will feature against Southampton?Tim Ireland/Associated Press
Jose Mourinho has his first shot at competitive silverware with Manchester United on Sunday as they take on Southampton in the League Cup final at Wembley.
But with Mourinho suggesting after Wednesday night's win over Saint-Etienne in the Europa League that Michael Carrick and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are unlikely to feature, per the club's website, there are a number of selection dilemmas facing the manager.
We decided to ask the people what they thought and put a poll in the field. Or rather, put 11 polls in the field. Let's take a look at the results.
It is pretty clear that no poll needs to be created for the goalkeeping spot. Sergio Romero may have started three games in a row, but that was a measure of Mourinho's opinion about the opposition, not his opinion of his own 'keepers. If the serious option of Romero had been included as a second choice, it would likely have got a lot fewer votes than the joke option did.
In truth, the right-back spot is almost as clear-cut as the 'keeper position. It is evidence of Antonio Valencia's resurgent reputation that he won this category by such an enormous margin.
A handful of Timothy Fosu-Mensah fans had their voices heard—no surprise, given the youngster is a popular figure around the club's support. Matteo Darmian's struggles since his arrival at United have him down at the 2 percent mark, and it can probably be assumed that the 1 percent who voted for Ashley Young are either related to Ashley Young or do not have United's best interests at heart.
It would be an enormous shock if Mourinho selected Luke Shaw at left-back in this game given how peripheral the England international has been to the manager's plans this season. However, 37 percent of those polled would select the out-of-favour option.
For some reason, this is the position that attracted to the most attention, receiving over 5000 more votes than any other position. In the end, the majority plumped for Daley Blind—51 percent picking the Dutchman. His form over the past few games has been impressive, although it will be interesting to see whether Mourinho chooses Darmian for his additional speed against Nathan Redmond.
That is an outcome just 3 percent of fans want to see, with even Marcos Rojo ahead on 9 percent.
Choosing the options at centre-back was tricky. Mourinho seems to think in partnerships rather than individual options—Phil Jones and Rojo were replaced by Chris Smalling and Eric Bailly together, rather than individual players being swapped out.
The two options that featured Bailly were by a huge margin the most popular, with Mourinho's preferred partner for him being shared by the fans.
Partnering him with Rojo attracted 35 percent of the vote, but Smalling retained a 51 percent share. Fans do not seem to mind his recent wobbles nor the fact that he was sent off in the FA Cup final last season and scored an own goal in the semi.
Non-Bailly pairings were of little to no interest to voters, making up just 14 percent of total votes cast. The Ivorian has had an incredibly impressive first season—and fans were clearly not put off by his sending off in France on Wednesday.
It would have been fascinating to see whether Mourinho would have selected Carrick were he available. In truth, United's attack has looked most effective in recent weeks in a 4-2-3-1 without Carrick, maximising the number of talented attackers on the pitch.
The black-and-white nature of a cup final—where winning at all costs is what matters—may well have nudged Mourinho back to the more conservative option. Now, though, his conservative option is not an appealing one.
Just 10 percent of fans voted for a midfield three of Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini, though it still feels quite a likely option; more likely, at least, than the much more popular choice of replacing Fellaini with Bastian Schweinsteiger in that lineup. However far-fetched that seems, 30 percent of respondents wanted to see the World Cup winner involved.
The most popular choice was Pogba and Herrera as the two in a 4-2-3-1. If that is the choice on Sunday, it will signal significant attacking intent on Mourinho's part.
While it may be easy to assume he will opt for Fellaini—assuming Mourinho will default to the more theoretically defensive option— the memory of Pogba screaming at the Belgian and Herrera during the first half of the home leg against Saint-Etienne is fresh in the mind.
United's midfield organisation was a disaster in that 45 minutes, and they were vastly improved when Jesse Lingard replaced Fellaini and the shape changed.
Lingard, if he does play, is likely to play on the right should United opt for 4-2-3-1, but he is only the third-most popular choice with the fans. Juan Mata earned 54 percent of the vote—presumably mostly from people advocating a 4-3-3, given he will be needed elsewhere in a 4-2-3-1 in Mkhitaryan's absence.
Marcus Rashford was not originally included among the choices, but so many people tweeted suggesting he should be included, the poll was re-written. He earned 28 percent of the vote, though it would remain a surprise if he actually gets a starting berth in that spot.
The position he may have a chance at starting in saw a fascinating result. The joint-highest percentage of the vote received by any player in any position was the 96 percent share earned by Anthony Martial. Rashford is popular among supporters, but people do not want him in the side at the expense of the mercurial France international.
In spite of his in-and-out status in the team this season, Martial is clearly very highly rated indeed by United's support.
Those voting to play a No. 10 voted heavily in favour of Mata. There was a substantial minority in favour of playing without a No. 10 in a 4-3-3, but the most interesting aspect of this selection is how few votes were cast for United's captain. Wayne Rooney attracted just 7 percent of the votes, a single-digit haul. That number speaks volumes about how quickly the Red Devils' support has adapted to the post-Rooney world: from undroppable to an afterthought in less than a season.
Of course, there would be the option of playing him up front, but only 4 percent of people voted for the "someone else I guess?" option in the centre-forward poll. Zlatan Ibrahimovic will obviously start if available, and 96 percent of respondents would select him, too.
So, the United XI going off fan selection would be a 4-2-3-1 with Juan Mata at both No. 10 and on the right. Given he cannot play in both spots, the second choice will be used on the right.
Thus the XI reads: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Smalling, Blind, Pogba, Herrera, Martial, Mata, Rashford and Ibrahimovic.
It will be fascinating to see how closely Mourinho's XI matches it.

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