As Manchester United’s crestfallen players trudged off the Brentford Community Stadium following a 4-0 defeat to the Bees on August 13th, it appeared as though new manager Erik ten Hag would experience the same fate as previous bosses Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick.
However, this has served as the catalyst for a four-game winning run in the Premier League, while the Dutch manager has also overseen an incredible improvement in terms of application, energy and aggression in a relatively short period of time.
For those of you with the best Stake promo code, you may be interested to note that Manchester United still offer excellent value to qualify for next year’s UCL through the league. But how has ten Hag achieved this feat and rejuvenated the Old Trafford club?
#1. Fielding Marcus Rashford as a Centre Forward
While Louis Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho regularly fielded Marcus Rashford as a central striker, it’s widely believed that the Englishman is best deployed as an inverted winger.
However, it’s alleged that the 24-year-old, who cut a frustrated and often disinterested figure for much of last season, asked his new manager to give him a run of games in the centre forward role so that he could deliver on his potential.
Ten Hag has obliged, while Rashford has since played with much more vigour and purpose in his favoured role. In fact, he has scored three goals and assisted a further two in six EPL games, while performing with distinction against United’s fierce rivals Liverpool and Arsenal.
This has also contributed to United fielding a more fluid and effective forward line, which has pressed with renewed energy and linked creatively at times.
#2. Playing Christian Eriksen in a Deeper Midfield Role
One of the primary issues last season was a lack of creativity in Manchester United’s midfield, with Bruno Fernandes deployed incredibly high up the park and neither Scott McTominay or Fred renowned for their ball progression or cute passing.
Ten Hag has appeared to resolve this issue with the inspired signing of free agent Christian Eriksen, who has been deployed in a deeper midfield role and provided far more incisive passing from deep.
This was evident during the impressive 3-1 win over Arsenal last weekend, when the Dane provided two key passes that contributed to goals and regularly broke the Gunners’ lines with forward balls from midfield.
By playing Eriksen in a double pivot in the middle of the park, ten Hag has broken up the Fred and McTominay axis while serving up consistently better service to the forward line.
#3. Enabling United to Play a Higher Defensive Line
Neither Harry Maguire or Victor Lindelof are blessed with genuine pace or mobility, and this has made Manchester United increasingly susceptible when adopting a high line in recent seasons.
The signing of Argentine Lisandro Martinez has injected some much-needed pace and aggression into the backline, however, while the presence of Raphael Varane alongside him has provided composure, aerial dominance and positional excellence.
This has allowed United to play a higher defensive line that’s capable of defending aggressively, without compromising on efficiency or being overly exposed to balls in behind.
The pace and presence of Varane also enables the diminutive Martinez to step out from the back both in and out of possession, to either stop attacks at source or play key passes into midfield.
