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21st April 2022 was significant for Manchester United. It marked the dawn of a new era, new expectations, and a new empire. Erik ten Hag signed the contract which made him the king of the Old Trafford throne.
Seven new signings; Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit; one trophy; several maulings but many wins; a potential takeover. A lot has happened within Ten Hag’s one year reign. But which specifics can be delved into, scrutinised, and assessed?
Beginning with his coaching ‘philosophy’ and ideals, Ten Hag – as seen through his time at Ajax – loves his team to have the ball and be able to move quickly in transitions.
He has highlighted his keenness to practice automatisms on the training ground at Carrington. You can read about this training tool here, but it essentially means repeating certain movements and phases of play so many times that the players are able to instinctively replicate them in every transitional situation on the pitch.
Without a doubt, the Qatar World Cup last winter hindered this process.
Like turning any activity into muscle memory or any vice into habit, there needs to be consistency and repetition in order for automatisms to be realised on matchday.
The same goes for personnel. For Ten Hag to achieve his desired effects through automatisms on the pitch, the same (i.e., first choice) players need to be the ones involved in this coaching tool. Lisandro Martínez and Raphaël Varane missed six weeks because of the World Cup mid-season, thus neglecting any built-up habits.
Casemiro missed a similar amount of time through suspension; he was training, but was unable to implement automatisms onto the pitch and build up consistency in realising Ten Hag’s transitional moments. Marcel Sabitzer joined in on February 1st, while Jadon Sancho was sent to the Netherlands to spend January training with specialists after having not played since October. Anthony Martial has seemingly been injured for the entirety of the season.
Of course, every team on the planet faces similar struggles. But to expect these players to be fully equipped with Ten Hag’s automatisms in such a short period of time would be nonsensical given these personnel-shaped obstacles.
What’s more, Ten Hag is still having to deal with training the likes of Harry Maguire and is attempting to implement his style of play knowing that David de Gea is involved in the buildup. Yes, he has spent €200 million, but inadequate and unsuitable players who are still heavily involved with the first team have to be considered.
Moving on to something intrinsic to Manchester United: the academy.
Alejandro Garnacho has progressed into becoming an important first team member under Ten Hag. But other than that, there is much left to be desired.
Many fans were excited about Zidane Iqbal’s flawless pre-season performances, but the Iraq international has had little opportunity under the Dutch manager.
Facundo Pellistri has been afforded some game-time, but this has been considered as too minimal given the young winger’s fantastic glimpses when he does enter the fray during the dying minutes of matches.
Ten Hag provided the platform for, and even tutored, several young world-class players at Ajax: see Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, our own Lisandro Martínez, and Noussair Mazraoui.
But this youth importance is yet to be introduced into United’s first team.
There can be the case that it is not a good time to introduce young players whilst being under the fear of damaging their development, but that does not explain the preference of Scott McTominay, who was also given the chance in the first team after graduating from the academy, over Iqbal after constantly poor performances.
It also does not excuse the overlooking of Pellistri, who has made 11 senior international appearances for Uruguay and played 33 games in La Liga, when Sancho and Antony have been in dreadful form.
In this matter, Ten Hag has failed to deliver a crucial aspect of the ingrained culture at United.
Regarding mentality, a value held highly by both United’s history and Ten Hag’s managerial career, he has aimed to improve this by a significant amount.
United have been a laughing stock for several years, even if the team has finished second place in the Premier League table the same number of times as Liverpool have in their greatest era. This humiliation, however, has been inflicted upon us by the weak mentality within the club.
Our own players were accustomed to becoming mercenaries, similar to the executives.
By selecting certain profiles of transfer targets, and by having control over the recruitment strategy, Ten Hag has instilled a determined and driven mentality within the dressing room.
The 13.8 km run, the Ronaldo saga, Garnacho and Rashford’s punishments for being late, Martinez, Antony and Casemiro’s natural ‘Grinta’, going off at both youth players and senior professionals in the same training session, using Sir Alex Ferguson as a sounding board, winning a trophy at the first possible occasion, holding the best win percentage of any United manager. These are just the obvious indications that Ten Hag has taken his task seriously.
Maguire was immediately ostracised from the starting XI after the Brentford and Brighton and Hove Albion defeats, setting the marker down that if you are failing to live up to standards you will not be gifted unlimited chances, unless squad dynamics prevent this (e.g. Varane’s injury).
Ten Hag is creating a team of characters who, when all fit and playing, want United to win.
Backed up by Steve McClaren’s collection of medals from the Treble, a culture is being developed, but not yet made concrete.
Fans have witnessed their team fighting a losing bloodbath on numerous occasions this season. The fact United have lost by such a great goal difference multiple times indicates a lack of adhering to standards and an ability to neglect determination.
Freak results can happen in football; a cliché, but true. Freak results cannot happen, however, once a month at Manchester United. But even with such horrific results and performances, the fans are, ironically, evermore relaxed – every one trusts that Ten Hag, the sought-after dressing-room mentality, and the staff’s coaching are on a path to success.
There has never been a time where optimism has exuded out of the red parts of Manchester more than now, in spite of an ill-attempted title challenge and multiple embarrassments; this is all credit to Ten Hag’s immediate suitability to the role of Manchester United manager.
A manager is not a miracle worker. Players have to hold themselves accountable. The team’s immaculate run of form from January until March attested to the fact that this manager is driving the team along the right track. But, this United train – backed by the appropriate characters with the right mentality, the ability to play permanently in the Ten Hag way and adapt in-game, and the inclusion of academy starlets – needs to be completely constructed before moving full steam ahead. The man in the front seat is, without a doubt, the right man.
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