In this series, we will analyse teams, identify problem areas, and suggest
solutions in the form of incoming players.
We won’t follow gossip, rumours or conjecture. We’re concerned
only with a player’s on-field performance and their suitability for the role in question.
Today’s team is Manchester United, welcome to Sensible Transfers.
Ralf Rangnick is now Manchester United’s interim manager. The former Red Bull network
supremo is famed for leading the pressing revolution that swept German football,
and for emphasising the intelligent recruitment of younger players within an overarching strategy.
United have some issues on the pitch and their underlying numbers are still discouraging.
But the German coach has barely had time to make an impact.
We are not trying to fix a pre-Rangnick United,
so it’s worth looking more at the kind of players Rangnick needs to make his 4-2-2-2 system work.
The 4-2-2-2 as Rangnick plays it sees two holding midfielders who patrol in front of the back line,
but also press high and drift wide to cover for the full backs. The full backs
provide much of the attacking width, but strikers are expected to drift wide too.
Behind the front line, two wide playmakers drift into the half
spaces to create and generate overloads, but also press high. The style is vertical,
with rapid transitions having regained possession, and counter-pressing if the ball is lost.
Several members of the current squad seem well-suited to this, especially Bruno
Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, while Ronaldo has impressed. At the back, United have good cover in
most positions, while the attacking options are obvious. United may look to the summer to add a
bit more youth to their forward line, but with Ronaldo and Cavani still excellent athletes,
this is less of an immediate concern. So, where should United look to strengthen?
The most pressing issue for United is still in central midfield. While Fred looks well
suited to Rangnick-style football, and Scott McTominay could work higher up the pitch,
United’s quest for a ball-winning, pressing midfielder who can spark vertical attacks
goes on. And while the current options could certainly be improved upon, it’s also worth
saying that United don’t currently have many players for this area of the pitch either.
Rangnick’s high octane style, which requires high levels of fitness and rotation,
means this department needs bolstering even if the current options are deemed good enough.
Rangnick’s central midfielders need to be energetic, tactically astute, and quick to
spot opportunities to move the ball up the pitch. Positioning is key, both to sustain the pressing
game and to fill in for other players, especially the full backs, when they join the attack.
We’ve highlighted Wilfred Ndidi before for United and he still fits the bill,
especially with defending and short, but penetrative, distribution. While Chelsea
would be loath to part with him, Conor Gallagher – currently on loan at Crystal Palace - looks
an ideal fit as a Rangnick midfielder, a classic box to box player with a huge engine
and ability to break the lines with passing. Another young Englishman, Jude Bellingham,
would tick every Rangnick box, and is versatile to play in the more attacking second line as well.
Tactically, Bellingham’s reading of the game is exceptional, and he is the perfect continuity
player to link possessional phases, but he would require an exorbitant fee. PSV’s Ibrahim Sangare
is another player we have suggested before, but he’s moved seamlessly from Ligue 2 to the
Eredivisie and his offensive and defensive output has remained exceptionally high.
Lastly, RB Leipzig’s duo of Tyler Adams, who can also play at right back, and Amadou Haidara
are experienced in the Red Bull style, and both good all-rounders who would fit in immediately.
But so too would our pick, Konrad Laimer, also of Red Bull Leipzig. Laimer is a pressing machine.
He regularly tops the charts in Europe’s top five leagues for pressure volumes, relentlessly hunting
down the ball. Because he’s been schooled in the Red Bull system, he also knows what to do
with the ball once it’s been won back. He’s always looking to move the ball vertically and then push
forward to assist, either as a receiving option, or cleverly positioning himself to block off an
area of the pitch so he can counter-press or recover the ball from a clearance.
Laimer has been easing back from serious injury,
so has yet to hit the ground running this season. But the Austrian international has
consistently excelled when fit and looks to be an ideal lynchpin for United’s midfield.
While United spent around £50m on Aaron Wan-Bissaka, his ability to progress
the ball through passing is limited. He’s reasonable at carrying but often his end
product means that good United attacks peter out. This is especially worrying for Rangnick,
given that speed of execution is key to his vertical style,
and Wan-Bissaka has a tendancy to take too long to assess his options.
Diego Dalot is an able stand in, but United need a high class right back to make this system
function. They must be able to pass and cross the ball progressively, that is take opposition
defensive lines out of play by getting past them, have serious stamina, and weigh in defensively.
Frederic Guilbert is having another quietly excellent season as Strasbourg,
but, as with another possibility from Ligue 1, Lens’ Jonathan Clauss, the step up to United’s
level is probably one too high. Ridle Baku is an intriguing option, fast, excellent at creating
chances, and still performing at a high level for a stuttering, and defensive, Wolfsburg team.
At 23 years old, he also has his best years ahead of him. And, if money were no object,
PSG’s Achraf Hakimi is probably the best right back in the world and would suit United perfectly.
But our pick is Ajax’s Noussair Mazraoui, another Moroccan international. Mazraoui is a skilful
attacking full back whose numbers measure up against Europe’s best attacking full backs,
with the caveat that the Eredivisie is a lower standard. Nonetheless, he’s been key
to Ajax’s superb performances in the Champions League, again, and he’s a rare example of an
attacking full back who is also defensively sound. Mazraoui is also positionally smart,
overlapping or underlapping as the situation requires, and benefits from having worked under
a very creative and tactically intelligent coach in Erik ten Hag. Indeed, ten Hag has been touted
as a possible successor to Rangnick, so recruiting one or two of his key men at Ajax is a good move.
Mazraoui, having just turned 24, is also yet to reach his peak and fits the kind of age profile
United are looking for. Technically excellent, exciting in attack, and solid in defence,
he’s exactly the kind of player who can elevate United’s right-side attack
and work well in their new, high-energy style of football.