Another exciting season for the red devils kicks on as they look to chase their deep yeard silverware under the new regime, know the pre-season fixtures results of Manchester United
By design, football fans, on most occasions, are generally thrilled whenever a new manager comes in. This even applies to the players—if you have followed the game long enough, you must have heard about the new manager bounce.
Manchester United Pre-Season Fixtures Results, Takeaways Ahead Of 2022/23 Premier League Season
Talking about preseason, that’s the time when the manager actually gets the luxury of laying the foundation of his long-term blueprint. Every player gets to start fresh, and that usually makes preseason a more exciting experience with all sorts of anticipations coming into play.
So, with the preseason coming to a close, what all did we learn from United’s tour? Let’s take a look!
1. Erik Ten Hag definitely has a clear plan
Okay, let’s first talk about what exactly ‘Ten Hag ball’ looks like. One thing that the dutchman has made very clear right from the beginning is that he wants his team to be brimming with energy and have the lion’s share of possession in every game. That doesn’t mean running aimlessly and throwing punches in the air to express your passion. That means he wants his players to press high, be switched on in games, and sustain their energy levels till the end.
It’s interesting to notice that, in theory, Ralf Rangnick, United’s previous manager who worked as an interim coach last season, also had a similar idea about how he would like his team to play. Sadly, he didn’t get a preseason to plan things out for his team, and even when he tried to implement these ideas in the beginning, his players didn’t have the fitness levels to sustain a high-energy rock-n-roll (as he described) kind of football.
But Erik thankfully gets a clean sheet. Another advantage that he has is that he doesn’t have to deal with a lot of fringe players that United’s squad was bloated with until last season. Around five players have already left the club, and United are anticipating more outgoings with the likes of Eric Bailly, Axel Tuanzebe, Phil Jones, Alex Telles, and possibly Aaron Wan-Bissaka looking likely to leave the club.
United are showing clear signs of improvement
In terms of improvement, there were a couple of problems that troubled United a lot under their last permanent manager’s tenure. One significant problem was the build-up pattern. The red devils were often caught every time they tried to build from the back, and every high-pressing team had spotted that glaring hole. You can blame the center-backs, the midfield duo, or the goalkeeper who looks like the worst fit in any system that aims to build the ball from the back—United have definitely improved in this regard.
Another notable change to has been how United are finally able to employ a high press effectively. Despite all the talk about how they want their team to press high, both of United’s previous coaches were unable to make their teams press consistently. A lot of players look fairly improved too. Starting from Anthony Martial, who has struggled to gain form for the last two years suddenly, he has looked fairly promising and sharp throughout the preseason tour.
A year from now, Diogo Dalot looked like one of the players who were very likely to be shown the exit door. You can maybe call it a matter of luck too that a move to Italy couldn’t work out for him, but fast-forward to today, Dalot is Erik Ten Hag’s main right-back and has successfully impressed his critics during his performances during the preseason.
His linkup with Sancho, who also struggled last season, has often been a point of discussion among the fans, and the pair is likely to be a core part of the dutchman’s team this season. With so much improvement, United’s stocks in the football betting market would definitely go up.
Erik Ten Hag wants his team to have more technicians
So far, United have signed three players Christain Eriksen, Lisandro Martinez, and Tyrell Malacia. Although they are all different players when you talk about their position, but if you can find one common node among them, it would be the fact that all three of them are technically sound in possession.
In all fairness, United have lacked technicians in recent years, and considering the kind of football Erik wants his team to play, which is a high-possession football, it’s impossible to translate that into practicality unless you have players of the right profile.
Even when you think of United’s main transfer target this summer whom they have been chasing for 3 months, you can quite easily understand why United are so reluctant to move to other targets despite all the obstacles this deal has produced.
It’s time for United fans to move on from Ronaldo
Now coming to arguably the hottest topic of discussion from last month.
Believe it or not, despite the rosy-looking 18-goals spell last season, United’s fanbase were mostly divided about their star player’s impact on the team. While some absolutely discard every negative comment about Ronaldo, there’s a section of fans—which is a big section by the way—has consistently called Ronaldo a net negative on the team.
But he has expressed his desire to leave the club, and there is seriously no point of clinging onto a player that doesn’t want to stay.
In Conclusion
Football wise, preseason is usually very different from the actual season, so with all the excitement, fans got to wait and see how Ten Hag ball actually works out.