Erik ten Hag and the transfer revolution in “Manchester United”

Therefore, the team sometimes adapts to the conditions, and does not dictate its own, as Hag used to do in Ajax. How the renewed Mancunian team will spend the season is one of the main intrigues of the starting Premier League. Especially for fans of sports predictions, the world’s largest bookmakers provide a wide selection of matches for the English championship.

The first signs of Ten Haag’s dominance became noticeable during the 2022/23 season – first the story with Cristiano Ronaldo, then the minimization of Harry Maguire’s playing time, and now the official departure of David De Gea, which is worth mentioning separately.

The Spaniard is a real legend of the club. For several years, he was the only bright spot, and if in the ranking of goalkeepers he is inferior to Peter Schmeichel or Edwin van der Sar, it is only because they had a real winning team ahead of them, and David had people who “helped improve” statistics of reflected blows.

However, parting with De Gea did not come as a surprise. It’s simple – he does not correspond to the trends that ten Hag is trying to keep up with: attracting goalkeepers to the build-up, where you need to play well with your feet. And this is far from David’s trump card.

The second thing is how the club handled De Gea’s departure in the media. What does it mean if even vice-captain Bruna Fernandez secretly criticized the management: “You deserved to say goodbye at the stadium with fans who would have chanted your name.”

De Gea is the sixth to leave the team in the summer: after Phil Jones, Alex Tuanzebe (free agents), Jack Butland, Marcel Zabitzer, Vauth Weghorst (not bought after the lease).

Three positions are the most problematic at the moment – at the same time, the incoming transfers of Mount and Onan do not cover any of them.

Everything is quite obvious – after the departure of Ronaldo, only Marcus Rashford remained in the club, who still prefers to attack from the left flank, and Anthony Martial, who is more often seen by the medical staff than by the coaching staff. In the winter, they decided to solve the problem with a limited budget by renting Weghorst – it turned out like this: 0 goals in the Premier League in six months.

• Dynamic box-to-box in the center of the field

Ten Haag’s roster does not have a linebacker who could be useful up front, but at the same time, Casemiro is getting quality help from the back. Fred does not cope with these functions, Christian Eriksen is a second profile player, like Donna van de Beek, and Scott McTominay is more of a replacement for the Brazilian than a partner. In the spring, Zabitzer balanced all this at least a little.

• Central defender

Regular injuries to Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez proved that there is no depth in this position. Victor Lindelof has the same difficulties as Fred – he lacks stability. Maguire is anyone, but not a center back for a high defensive line.

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