5 improvements Erik ten Hag needs to make at Manchester United
By Sumit More
Erik Ten Hag is coming with a lot of expectations at Old Trafford. He has a successful CV and a unique style and system of play, but here at Manchester United he needs to fix some major issues if he is guide them back to the top of English football. Let’s look at 5 things he needs to do as the manager of the Red Devils.
Build Chemistry
The main thing lacking at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson retired has been chemistry between the players and the coaching staff.
Manchester United have world class players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Paul Pogba, Bruno Fernandes and many others, but they have not quite gelled together and that’s been the biggest problem. Ten Hag needs to fix this and get the whole team playing together.
Manchester United have a lot of areas to work on under Ten Hag
Winning Mentality
This seems to be lost since long. The team lacks winning mentality and the ability to win consistently, having gone trophyless for five straight seasons. And they need some serious motivation and training to build up the habit of winning!
Overall Squad
To be very honest, a lot of the current Manchester United players do not seem to be ready to be playing for the Red Devils.
A squad revamp in several positions is needed and a mixture of the academy and transfer signings should help to rebuild the club again. Sir Alex did the same several decades back and it might be time to repeat the trick.
Long-term vision
Ten Hag needs to convince the fans, the board and even the players that this is a long-term project and it will take some time for his vision to come to life. It’s the same as what Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola have done at their respective clubs and similar to what Xavi is doing at Barcelona now.
Short fixes haven’t worked at Manchester United before and solid long-term projects do attract good players.
Developing their identity once again
The most important thing Ten Hag needs to do is develop a playing style and philosophy that suits the squad. He has done this at Ajax to great effect and needs to do this at Old Trafford as well.
The current squad doesn’t have any particular playing style and changes formations and approach depending on the opponents. That’s been a huge reason for their inconsistency.