Manchester United have finally won a trophy! Erik ten Hag’s first game as manager ended in victory as the Red Devils lifted the Bangkok Century Cup. The more pleasing aspect of it for the fans was Liverpool getting thrashed 4-0.
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Granted, the Reds had lesser time to prepare and mostly played their youngsters, but United fans will not care. The era of Ten Hag has gotten off to a flier, and there were many things that would have excited everyone watching.
United finally looked like playing at a high-class level, which has been sorely missing over the past few years. Therefore, the supporters will take any crumbs of comfort they get. FootTheBall looks at five things that really should herald the dawn of a new era.
Pressing monsters
What Ralf Rangnick was supposed to provide, Erik ten Hag is supplying. United looked hungry for the ball right from the start. They were pressing Liverpool as soon as they lost the ball.
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Even when Alisson had the ball, there was no respite. The forwards were lurking around the penalty box at every opportunity, while the midfield stepped up all the time.
Ten Hag’s narrow 4-3-3 press isn’t linear. Certain times the fullbacks won’t be able to back up the press so the wide player will use the oppo FB as the trigger. That’ll certainly be the case in settled play anyway. Key difference is the far side winger collapses the play inside.
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Even the central defenders were not staying in their own half, looking to drive or play raking passes. All of it culminated in United winning the ball back way more times than their opponents throughout the match.
Of course, they were better prepared and had more time to ready themselves. However, if they can continue doing this over a full season, Ten Hag would have done something spectacular indeed.
4-3-3 the norm?
When Erik ten Hag trotted out all this senior players, the team was almost an replica of that under Rangnick. The only difference was Anthony Martial starting instead of the absent Cristiano Ronaldo.
Fans would have assumed that it would be the same old 4-2-3-1, but on closer inspection, the formation resembled a 4-3-3. Fred, Scott McTominay, and Bruno Fernandes did the bulk of the work, while the front three utilized their great…
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