How will Manchester United line up without Zlatan Ibrahimovic?

Against Bournemouth last weekend, Manchester United were everything that Jose Mourinho has promised. They were hungry, they were positive, and at times they verged on the imperious. They attacked with verve, from all angles, and they carved their opponents apart time and time again. For about 20 minutes. Then they scored and it all went wrong.

What came afterwards was more or less an exhibition in all the strange things wrong with this strange Manchester United team. A narrow game that couldn’t be won in any definitive way, and so ended in a disappointing 1-1 draw. A defense riddled with nerves. A midfield that clanks and sputters; creative players that don’t quite gel. And an attack that is, for good and ill, functionally dependent on Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Indeed, while the headlines were taken by Tyrone Mings’ stamp, Ibrahimovic’s retaliatory elbow, and the referee’s decision to send off somebody else, the Bournemouth performance could live on as a cautionary tale.

“He only had eyes for one striker … but so did his team. Jose Mourinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic star in tempestuous romantic comedy The Dangers of Over Reliance. With Paul Pogba and Marouane Fellaini. Introducing Phil Jones as Phil Jones.”

An attack built around one forward isn’t necessarily a problem, as long as it works. Had Ibrahimovic lifted his penalty a couple of feet higher on Saturday, then he would have scored his 16th league goal of the season, United would likely have taken all three points, and we could have devoted all our time to arguing about the stamp and the elbow. But he didn’t.

And because he didn’t, United seized up. Bournemouth, dreadful at defending with 11 men, proved surprisingly dutiful with 10, and United once again lacked the wit to break down a massed defense. They had plenty of possession as the clock ticked down, but it dissipated as their midfield — Paul Pogba in particular — sent hopeful, thoughtless passes into the penalty area. Into the place where Ibrahimovic might be, in the hope that he might do something.

In the end, all he did was pick up a three-game ban, leaving a gaping hole up front for United’s next three domestic games: Chelsea in the FA Cup, then Middlesbrough and West Bromwich Albion in the league. As if to emphasize his importance, on Thursday evening he set up United’s precious away goal against FC Rostov in the Europa League. What are United going to do without him?

As far as coping strategies go, the most tantalizing thought for the armchair manager is to keep things roughly as they have been in terms of shape, pick Marcus Rashford up front, and Anthony Martial on the left. The idea of Rashford, Martial, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan all combining is enough to excite even the most hard-hearted proponent of percentage football, and it’s been a while since United’s attack was a fundamentally quick thing. Pace is always scary; scary is usually good.

But the worry — apart from the fact that it doesn’t seem very Mourinho to pick two exciting young players at the same time — is that while there isn’t really anybody quite like Ibrahimovic, Rashford really is nothing like Ibrahimovic. The Swede is tall, strong, and just a little bit slow, but the ball sticks to him and he bounces off defenders. So United kick the ball at him a lot, both to relieve pressure and to start attacks.

By contrast, the younger men are quick, tricky, and entirely unsuited to collecting the long passes to the leaping big man. The angle of attack shifts, and everybody’s job changes, just a little bit. And this holds even if Mourinho decides to shuffle his formation. Against Rostov, United played three at the back; a hint, perhaps, that Mourinho hopes to beat Chelsea by joining them. But they still had Ibrahimovic, out-ball and base camp.

His absence could, perhaps, make United a little less predictable. Without the default option of slinging the ball in the direction of their big man, United will have to find smarter ways to craft chances. With this in mind, the return of Mkhitaryan to fitness couldn’t come at a better time. Ibrahimovic may score the goals, but the Armenian always looks the most likely to break defenses open.

The other pressing question, after ‘what will United do?’, is ‘what will it mean?’. Mourinho’s team sheets tend to be taken as more than just selections. As messages. This player is in favor, this other player is in disgrace. And so the temptation, particularly if Rashford or Martial are given something important to do in Ibrahimovic’s absence, will be to wonder if this amounts to some hint for the future.

After all, Ibrahimovic is already too old to be doing what he’s doing, and the rumor mill suggests that he may not take up the option of a second year at United. There is particular interest in seeing Rashford given center stage, given the buzz surrounding his emergence and the ongoing excitement over just how good he might turn out to be.

But if there are two certainties in football, it’s that Manchester United like to go shopping and Mourinho is fundamentally a pragmatist. The former is why Ibrahimovic is at Old Trafford, and the latter is why he’s played nearly every minute. We can probably assume that any glimpses into the future will be coincidental, and any moments seized by the younger men will be subject to review.

So perhaps the best way to frame these coming three games is less as glimpse into what comes next, and more as an opportunity to see United forced outside of their comfort zone, as both manager and team are forced to improvise. It may not amount to foreshadowing, but it should be fascinating. Possibly even funny, if we end up watching Wayne Rooney attempt his best Zlatan impression.

All thanks, then, to the FA’s disciplinary committee, who were so taken with the first film that they’ve ordered the sequel.

“What does one man do, when he loses the only person he can trust … Jose Mourinho stars in tragicomical farce Doing Without. With Anthony Martial, Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney. Still introducing Phil Jones as, well, Phil Jones. Some things never change.”