Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
Manchester United are in great shape to finish comfortably inside the top four of the English Premier League this season. Although this doesn’t sound like a good achievement, it is when you consider the Red Devils are currently eight points clear of former champions Liverpool and 13 points clear of Chelsea.
United sit in third place and although new coach Erik ten Hag acknowledges there is still work to do to close the gap to Arsenal and Manchester City, United are on a more competitive footing under the Dutchman. They’re still a long way from the iconic teams of EPL past, including Sir Alex Ferguson’s side that won three titles back-to-back in the 2000s.
With that in mind, we’ve analysed four of the most important aspects ten Hag has changed since assuming the helm at Old Trafford.
He has rejuvenated Marcus Rashford
If there’s one player that needed an arm around his shoulder it was Marcus Rashford. The homegrown forward was lacking confidence and direction under previous regimes. Ten Hag has a clear vision for the way he wanted Rashford to play, utilising his relentless energy and boundless running to press high and tuck into goal scoring positions from the left flank as an inside forward. Rashford has only scored more than 11 Premier League goals in a season once – he now has 14 in 2022/23.
Embracing the youth – especially Alejandro Garnacho
The beauty of ten Hag’s success with Ajax was that he wasn’t afraid to put faith in academy prospects. He’s starting as he means to go on at Old Trafford, blooding the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, who landed the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year last season.
It’s fair to say that Garnacho has been let off the leash by Erik ten Hag, who handed him his full debut in October in the Europa League. The following month, Garnacho made quite the impact, scoring a late winner at Fulham, scoring against Real Sociedad in European action and creating two goals in a victory over Aston Villa. The 18-year-old has shown nerves of steel to make an impact in the United first team at such a tender age.
A double pivot that offers greater stability and control
For too long, United have lacked defensive protection in the midfield areas. The better teams have cut through them like a knife through butter. Ten Hag’s decision to deploy a double pivot in front of the backline has proven a major help in the main. Both Casemiro and Christian Eriksen give the defenders a wide variety of passing lanes to build attacks from the back. In addition, Casemiro’s signing has offered genuine security, with swift and decisive reactions to misplaced passes or poor touches in possession.
Taking control of the dressing room
Last but by no means least, ten Hag appears to have wrestled control of the dressing room dynamics. All too often reports would come through suggesting that Cristiano Ronaldo held too much sway behind closed doors. The Dutchman’s bold decision to ditch Ronaldo and consign him to a spell in the Saudi Pro League has so far proved a correct one, as he seeks to build a squad chemistry where everyone is pulling in the same direction.
Paul Calderon is an accomplished academic writer having worked with various assignment writing services for more than a decade. He has worked on a variety of projects including essays, term papers, thesis and dissertations. In his free time, he loves to play badminton, watch the latest flicks and read and review famous books.
