When Erik ten Hag took charge of Manchester United, things were in disarray at the club as they finished a dismal sixth in the Premier League with multiple positions requiring an injection of quality.
The defence was leaking goals and a mass exodus occurred within the midfield department to leave the squad looking shorn of quality and numbers.
The Dutch boss fixed the defence with the signings of Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia and the Argentine, in particular, has captured the fancy of United fans worldwide.
How ETH transformed United’s midfield
The midfield proved a lot harder to improve especially with renowned stars like Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata all left on a free.
But in the end, the signings of free agent Christian Eriksen and former Real Madrid midfield general Casemiro have proved to be game-changers with one offering guile while the other adds bite in the centre of the park.
Paul Pogba will miss the Qatar 2022 World Cup due to new injury, confirmed by his agent Rafaela Pimenta. 🚨🇫🇷 #Pogba
Pogba has not played one single official game with Juventus since he signed the contract last July. pic.twitter.com/nn13g6xGIX
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 31, 2022
There were doubts whether United could add a sufficient creative force after Pogba’s departure but those worries have quickly dissipated.
However, the Frenchman has not had the best of times since leaving the Red Devils. He made a a few controversial statements regarding his failed United stint and that has been all he has done since his summer move.
The French midfielder suffered an injury during pre-season training and has not featured for the Bianconeri so far this season. He did return to training last week but suffered a fresh setback.
And that ruled him out of the World Cup with the player’s agent Rafaela Pimenta releasing a statement which said, “Following yesterday’s and today’s medical review in Torino and Pittsburgh, it is extremely painful to inform Paul Pogba will still need recovery time from his surgery.
“For this reason, Paul will not be able to join Juventus’ squad before the World Cup break nor the French national team in Qatar.”
Pogba injury woes
This latest injury setback has not gone down well with former Juventus manager Luigi Maifredi, who believes United knew about the player’s injury woes and that is why they let him go so easily.
“Let’s say that Juve were not lucky in their signings because Pogba has not yet been part of the team and Di Maria has had an occasional trend.
Behind the failure of the Juventus team there is also the poor performance of the transfer campaign. Then let’s face it, if Manchester gives away Pogba so easily, they must have had something… He was caught and he was a nearly injured player and these are the consequences for Juventus,” he told TMW.
Pogba’s injury problems were a very well-known issue during his United spell with the midfielder playing more than 30 Premier League matches in only one out of six seasons. Last season, he only made 16 out of 38 Premier League starts.
While letting him go for a free might not seem to be the best business model, United have certainly dodged a major bullet and Ten Hag’s squad is much better off for it.
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