Manchester United was a club in trouble. They fought in the field and looked for solutions. Before the start of the new season, Manchester United announced Erik Ten Hag as their new manager.
Ten Hag was appointed in charge of Old Trafford after his brilliant success with Ajax. With Ajax, Ten Hag became the center of attention. He turned an Ajax full of youngsters into almost Champions League winners. Under Ten Hag, Ajax repeatedly changed the Dutch league and excelled in the Champions League.
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After repeated failures with previous coaches, the Manchester United board got the Dutch coach along with his project and his way of doing things. As soon as he arrived at Old Trafford, Ten Hag demanded changes. Six new players joined, who spent more than 200 million. Antony, Lisandro Martínez and Casemiro were the highlights of the transfer window.
Erik Ten Hag’s time at Manchester United was not easy. He had to endure two straight losses in his first two games in charge. He had to make some tough decisions to revive Manchester United. One of the biggest calls was reducing Ronaldo to a bench player and the other was dropping Harry Maguire, who was then the team’s Red Devils captain.
After those calls were made and he had time to adjust. Manchester United began to adopt the Ten Hag ball and the results began to fall in their favor. With Manchester United winning again, let’s look at some pivotal players who played a part in turning things around.
5 players who shone with Erik Ten Hag at Manchester United
1. Christian Eriksen
Christian Eriksen was signed by Manchester United for free. After his short-term contract expired at Brentford. It felt like Manchester United signed Eriksen as a second choice after they failed to sign their number one target for the window, Frenkie De Jong.
But to everyone’s surprise, Eriksen turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Manchester United. He was initially used as a shadow striker, but failed to show the caliber of him. But when Manchester United moved in, he was deployed as a CDM.
From this position, Eriksen has been phenomenal for the Red Devils. He has played 4 games for them at that position. It is from here that Eriksen has been dictating the play. He has been providing excellent passes to forwards to capitalize on. Eriksen has kept the midfield going. He sometimes drives the ball forward from that position, setting up Manchester United’s attack. Generally speaking, Eriksen has CDM that he can create and he’s turning out to be a Masterstroke.
2. Marco Rashford
Rashford had a terrible last season. It seemed that he was going to be a substitute player this year, especially after the arrival of Antony from Ajax. But to everyone’s surprise, Erik Ten Hag has brought out the best in the English. He deployed him to play as the 9 in Martial’s absence and ahead of Ronaldo. Rashford has repaid the manager’s trust in him by scoring goals.
In Striker, Rashford can directly attack the opposition with a blistering pace. He can take on opposing defenders and easily outmaneuver them. In the games played so far, Rashford managed to score 3 goals and provided 2 assists. Overall, Rashford’s game has been completely transformed since the arrival of Erik Ten Hag.
3. Lisandro Martinez
The third player on our list will be Manchester United’s summer arrival at the heart of the defense Lisandro Martinez. Lisandro signed from Ajax for a whopping 55 million. Since he arrived at Old Trafford he has been criticized by English pundits. Martinez was criticized for his height as he was shorter than many other Premier League defenders. Furthermore, he was criticized for coming from the Dutch league, which was considered to be of a lower level than the first division.
Martínez also initially found life difficult at Old Trafford. He was sometimes caught and attacked by attackers due to the height of him. But thanks to Ten Hag, he stayed with his man at all times. Since that Liverpool match in which Martínez stood out, he has been his best defender.
He has formed a solid partnership with Varane and together they have been rock solid for Manchester United. Another advantage of having Lisandro is that since he came from Ajax he is naturally good with the ball at his feet and therefore can sometimes carry the ball forward from that central position.
What a turnaround it has been for Lisandro Martínez. He went from being branded a huge financial flop signing to being Manchester United’s player of the month. Yes, you heard right, Lisandro Martinez has been announced as Manchester United’s Player of the Month for August.
4. Diogo Dalot
Another player announced under Erik Ten Hag is Manchester United’s Portuguese right-back Diogo Dalot. Dalot has been at Old Trafford for the past few seasons. He never got his fair share of first team opportunities. He spent most of his free time on loans. His loan spell with Italian champions AC Milan is where he excelled.
Following the arrival of Ten Hag, he immediately ruled out Manchester United’s star right-back by signing Aaron Wan Bissaka. United actually tried to get a new right back but were unsuccessful in their attempts. Therefore, Ten Hag decided to play Dalot in that right back role.
Dalot initially struggled in that role as well. But the Dutch coach kept insisting on him. Dalot soon became his. Dalot has become Manchester United’s first choice at right back. The Portuguese international has improved his game in both aspects of the field be it defensively or offensively. He has made that United right wing his own. Against Southampton, Dalot was the Red Devils’ star player.
5. Tyrell Malacia
The final player on the list is Manchester United’s new left-back, Tyrell Malacia. The Dutch left-back was Erik Ten Hag, his first signing as manager of Manchester United. He was signed from the Dutch club Feyenoord. Malacia was initially signed to return to Luke Shaw as Ten Hag was unhappy with Alex Telles. With Luke Shaw’s performance questionable in the first two games of the major league. He was soon cut from the team and Malacia got his chance.
Malacia hasn’t offered much in the final third, but his ferocious presence at the back has been praised. Malacia will undoubtedly play in more games and have a fantastic opportunity to claim the place as their own.
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