Over the course of the last ten years, the Manchester United job
became something of an impossible task. After Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013,
a litany of coaches tried–and largely failed–to turn the club around.
That is until this season and the arrival of Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.
Since he took over the reins at Manchester United, the team is comfortably inhabiting a Champions
League place in the Premier League and the overall trajectory of the club seems unerringly upward.
So what did Erik ten Hag do to fix Manchester United?
A failed experiment
with Ralf Rangnick notwithstanding, the Manchester United team that ten Hag inherited when he became
the manager in the summer of 2022 was a team built by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Solskjaer’s three year tenure at the club was a curious one. Despite the fact that he
got them into the Champions League on two occasions and to a Europa League final,
his time at Manchester United was punctuated by poor performances and
no real sense that he could get the club competing at the highest level.
Much of this came down to playstyle. Solskjaer favoured a counter-attacking
approach which saw the team absorb pressure from opponents before looking to attack at speed
through transitional players like Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Dan James,
all of whom were serviced by the creative passing of Bruno Fernandes.
This approach allowed Manchester United to take apart some of the bigger sides in world football
but it did mean that they sometimes struggled to break down teams who sat in a lower block,
certainly not at a rate that would allow them to compete consistently in the Premier League.
For Erik ten Hag, then, the key to success was going to
be finding a way to marry together the transitional upside of his squad with a
more sustainable approach in games where his team were expected to dominate possession.
But achieving this was less straightforward. Although ten Hag didn’t look to overhaul
Manchester United’s possession play overnight, he did try to get his team building out from the
back to disastrous effect in the opening games of the season. This was most apparent in a 4-0 loss
away to Brentford, where United lost the ball in build up and gave away a goal on two occasions.
Rather than tearing up the copybook and adopting a stringent pragmatism, though, Erik ten Hag has
taken a more patient approach to United’s possession play. There has been a realism
about some of the limits of his players in build up - most notably David De Gea - but this hasn’t
stopped ten Hag from making sure that the ball is being progressed efficiently down the field.
This ball progression has been benefited most noticeably by the introduction of a
clear possessional structure. In the time since ten Hag arrived, clear patterns of
play are emerging as players become aware of their responsibilities in possession.
This overarching structure has had a marked effect on a number of players–players like Marcus
Rashford, Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka–each of whom has noticeably improved this season.
The other factor in this on-ball improvement has been the turnover of players under the Dutchman.
One of the benefits of bringing in a manager with a clear possessional system is that it allows
targeted recruitment of players for that system. Last summer, Manchester United were able to bring
in a much-needed defensive midfielder in Casemiro, a central midfielder who can progress the ball in
Christian Eriksen, and a progressive passer and transitional centre-back in Lisandro Martinez.
These all improved the team’s ability to move the ball down the field.
On top of this, Wout Weghorst was added in January to replace the recently departed
Cristiano Ronaldo with the Burnley loanee adding much more to the team
as a classic number 9 who could also lead the line out of possession. All of these
transfers have improved the starting XI but, most importantly, fit into ten Hag’s system.
But it’s not just that Manchester United are more flexible in possession of the ball. They are also
much better out of possession since Erik ten Hag arrived. In the modern game, the out of
possession aspect is as important as what you do in possession. You aren’t going to be able to
control the ball for a whole game - especially if you’re still improving in the possession phase. If
you can control opponents out of possession, then it’s less important if you don’t have the ball.
This is one area where Erik ten Hag’s clear advantage over Ole
Gunnar Solskjaer shows. For example, Manchester United now have a much more
functional high press. They also have a much more structured rest defence.
This is the defensive structure that is in place when the team are attacking and
is designed to prevent the opposition from counterattacking if the ball is turned over.
But out of possession play isn’t just about stopping the opposition from
scoring. It also has an in-possession benefit too.
Keeping the opposition deeper when they are trying to build up will not only keep
the ball away from your own goal. But it will also generate more space in your own half which
will make progressing the ball down the field even easier should the ball be turned over.
These sorts of pay-offs emphasise the way that Erik ten Hag has started to fix Manchester
United. By making the team more flexible in every phase of the game, he has been able to
pose problems for opponents whilst also solving problems set by the opposition.
Manchester United are now a much tougher prospect for teams to face both in and out of possession.
And the results are clear for everyone to see,
even if ten Hag and United still have some way to go.