Erik ten Hag looks set to be Manchester United’s next manager after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back in November, as Ralf Rangnick has clearly failed to impress in the interim role.
The current Ajax boss has long been linked to a managerial gig for one of Europe’s powerhouses and he’ll be the second Dutch manager in the club’s history following Louis van Gaal.
After an illustrious career at Ajax, the expectations for him with United are high. Although there’s a lot to fix, five things should be at the top of his to do list this summer at Old Trafford.
Find a Defensive Midfielder
In reality, the defensive midfield puzzle has been a work in progress for the club since Michael Carrick retired in 2018. Fred and Scott McTominay have played together in a midfield partnership which has yielded limited results, as neither appear to understand what their roles are.
They also have Donny van de Beek, but this is not his natural role. Amadou Haidara, Wilfred Ndidi, and Kalvin Phillips have all been linked to the club and any of them would be a good fit. However, with Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester City all boasting phenomenal talents at the position, some serious scouting needs to be done to find a defensive midfielder who easily slots into the role.
Fix the Full-Back Spots
United have five full-backs to call on these days: Diogo Dalot, Brandon Williams, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Alex Telles, and Luke Shaw. The latter has been sensational at times, with some claiming as recently as last season that he was one of the best left-backs around. However, following a dismal 2021/22, and a season of struggles for the other four, this is a huge issue heading into 2022/23.
At right-back, Wan-Bissaka is likely in trouble given his torrid ability going forward, and Dalot has yet to impress at all in United colors since signing in 2018. On the other side, if Shaw finds his form again, not many do it better, but Telles is certainly still a work in progress who could find his feet under new guidance.
Involve van de Beek
Van de Beek has so far moved to United and received absolutely nothing. From scoring in his debut to ironically bagging the last goal under Solskjaer, the midfielder was shipped out to Everton on loan where things only got worse.
Under ten Hag, however, he should be one of the first names on the team sheet at United. At Ajax, van de Beek established himself as one of Europe’s top young talents, as he netted 41 goals and 34 assists in 175 games with practically all that coming under ten Hag’s leadership.
The United midfielder has also been incredibly versatile in his career, having registered 69 goal contributions from 165 games as a central midfielder, 46 in 95 outings as an attacking midfielder, and even six in 30 games in more of a defensive role. It’s an outrageously impressive record while being that versatile. If this form can be found once more, it could both solve United’s midfield issues and put van de Beek back amongst the list of Europe’s very best.
Figure Out Rashford
While there needs to be some tinkering with Cristiano Ronaldo’s role given it will likely be his last year at United, there’s little doubt the Portugal captain will score regardless of who he plays under. Marcus Rashford, however, is heading towards a concerning period in his career.
He can’t seem to do anything right, and it’s been a disastrous past year for the Englishman. Four coaches have now failed to figure out his best position, while the player himself is going through stints of form where fans are now questioning whether he is even worth investing any time in at all.
Only 24, and just one goal away from 100 for the club ahead of his 300th appearance, it’s evident there’s a top player in there somewhere. Next season, however, he will be in his seventh with his boyhood side and will be halfway to 26 this time next year.
Given how Anthony Martial’s United career stalled at a similar age, Rashford is likely only being saved from extreme criticism because of his relationship with the club. Ten Hag has to fix him, or he could well be finished at Old Trafford.
Get Rid of the Deadwood
It’s staggering to know there are still players in this squad who played under Sir Alex Ferguson or David Moyes. In fact, there’s so much deadwood at the club it would be mathematically impossible to offload them all without having a call from the Premier League regarding their squad size.
Some will have to stay to make up the numbers, but players like Juan Mata, Jesse Lingard, Phil Jones, Martial, and Andreas Pereira are taking in gargantuan wages for absolutely no reason.
These are issues ten Hag will have to fix which really should have been cleaned up years ago. It all just goes to show how diabolical the club has been on and off the pitch across the past decade.
-Grant McQuillan
Twitter: @Grant_McQuillan
Photo: Кирилл Венедиктов. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.