Erik Ten Hag's Marquee Signings.

Antony

 

Manchester United completed the signing of the skilful Brazilian winger Antony from Ajax for £86m on deadline day, as he is reunited with his old boss Erik Ten Hag. At the age of 22, Antony has all the potential, to reach the very top of world football. Antony came with a big price tag adding pressure immediately to his Manchester United career, however this pressure disappeared rather quickly - as Antony scored in his first 3 Premier League games. Antony has already gained trust within the United fanbase as he’s bought in to the system implemented by Erik Ten Hag, similar to the system at Ajax when both Ten Hag and Antony were there. Antony shows passion every time he puts on that Manchester United jersey, shown by his celebrations when a teammate or he scores.

Casemiro

Wow. What a player. 30-year-old Brazilian Casemiro, signed from Real Madrid for £70m. Despite winning the Champions League, La Liga Santander, and the Spanish Super Cup last year the Brazilian star wanted a new challenge and stated ‘I want to win the premier league’, many pundits criticised the transfer calling it bad business for Manchester United as there are younger players for cheaper or around the same price that would offer the club longevity (Declan Rice) , however I think Casemiro was a great purchase, after in need of a central defensive midfielder for years, we got the best in the world. Pundits also questioned why he would leave Real Madrid -defending Champions League winners for a Europa League side, apart from wanting a new challenge and the magnitude of Manchester United – this question remains unanswered.

Maybe ex – Real Madrid teammates Cristiano Ronaldo and Varane encouraged Casemiro? It took Casemiro a few games to settle into the club and league with mostly appearing from the bench in the league, however after a few starts in Europe he was settling in the starting XI and was out of this world against Spurs in a 2-0 win and Chelsea in a 1-1 draw where he scored the equaliser on the last minute.

 

Lisandro Martinez

Another player who has worked under Ten Hag at Ajax and has become influential in defence for Manchester United this season – Lisandro Martinez. Costing £47m, Martinez slotted straight into the team at centre back, forming a great partnership with Varane as Manchester United’s defence became reliable with great solidify and focus across the back 4. A lot of this is due to Martinez communicating and demanding more on the pitch from others – which has lacked throughout the squad for nearly a decade.

Martinez was heavily criticised when signing for Manchester United, not because he was a bad player, but because of his height. Lisandro Martinez comes in at 5ft 9in making him the smallest Premier League centre back. Jamie Carragher was a big advocate for Lisandro Martinez failing in the Premier League due to his height stating, “I'm convinced this can't work because he's the size of a 5ft 9 centre back playing in a back 4 maybe he'll go left back, maybe could play in a back three but not in the back four, he cannot play the in the Premier League”

These comments were made after United’s loss to Brighton and humiliating 4-0 defeat to Brentford. Since then, Martinez has played 9 Premier League games, kept 4 clean sheets and conceded only 10 goals. Outperforming last season’s starting centre back at Manchester United – Harry Maguire the club captain.

 

System

All 3 of these major signings work perfectly in the system Ten Hag wants to play, having a progressive centre back allowing full backs to join the midfield as Martinez alongside Varane can break lines and progress play up the pitch.

 Adopting Erik Ten Hag’s 2-3-5 formation in possession allowed full backs to join Casemiro in midfield whilst wide players such as Antony hold the width creating more space and encouraging 1v1 and 2v1’s in wide positions suiting a predominantly left footed player who plays on the right, allowing them to cut in and shoot, which is how all his goals have been created.

With the 2 back at the back and 3 in midfield in possession allows Casemiro time and space on the ball to dictate play as the front 5 will push back the opposition, consistently being in the centre of the pitch enables Casemiro to not only support the 2 centre backs but to win the ball back quickly at break downs and turnovers.

 

Cameron Long.

 

 

 

 

Why Manchester United’s Theatre of Dreams transformed into the Theatre of Nightmares.

 There’s a multitude of reasons for Manchester United’s fall from grace, prior to the retirement of football’s greatest ever manager– Sir Alex Ferguson. Who led Manchester United to 38 trophies including; 13 Premier league titles; 5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues.

Managers

The successor – David Moyes

After 11 years after Everton Football Club, David Moyes earned his spot at the pinnacle of management in football with the chance to manage defending champions Manchester United. Moyes inherited an aging squad which lacked quality – leading to their worst league start since 1989. Moyes was used as an scapegoat for Manchester United’s poor form throughout his time at the club, winning only 26 games out of 51. In reality, not all blame can fall on ‘The Chosen One’ David Moyes due to a lack of backing from Manchester United’s board, as he was promised world – class players such as: Cesc Fabregas and Gareth Bale. Whilst naming one of the greatest players of all time -Cristiano Ronaldo - as a transfer target. No backing from the board, and false promises led to the undistinguished signings of Marouane Fellini for £29.16m in the 2013 summer market and Juan Mata for £40.26m in January 2014. A recipe for disaster, led to Moyes’ dismissal after only 9 months.

From touching distance of World Cup glory to Manchester United, Louis Van Gaal had arrived at Old Trafford ready for a new era at this prestigious club. From no signings to world beaters. Manchester United’s Executive CEO Ed Woodward secured the purchase of Champions league winner Angel Di Maria breaking the British record signing, with Di Maria came world class Radamel Falcao on loan. Bringing hope back to all Manchester United fans. Within, his first season he secures Champions League football for the club, with poor runs in all cup competitions. As time passed, Manchester United became ‘boring’ under Louis Van Gaal with no identity or style of play, despite winning the 2016 FA Cup. Louis Van Gaal suffered embarrassing results at United such as a 4-0 loss to MK Dons, a 5-3 loss to Leicester – who went on to win premier league in 2016. Louis Van Gaal last season at Manchester United was his FA Cup winning season of 2015/16 as he failed to finish in a Champions League spot.

Manchester United then appointed ‘The Special One’ serial winner – Jose Mourinho. With no time to waste Mourinho and Ed Woodward got to it. Signing world class players in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Paul Pogba, Henrik Mkhitaryan and Eric Bailly. It was believed Manchester United got the recruitment right this time round, as Jose Mourinho’s first season at the club ended with the EFL Cup and the Europa League trophy despite only placing 6^th in the Premier League. The next season United fans got excited signing Romelu Lukaku and centre half Victor Lindelöf. This season was Mourinho’s ‘best ever achievement’ as he finished 2^nd to record breaking Manchester City who were crowned champions. This was Manchester United highest point tally and finish since Sir Alex Ferguson. Things began to go south between the board and Jose Mourinho over transfers and actions including interviews and talking to the media. After a 3-1 loss to Liverpool at Anfield, Jose Mourinho was axed from Manchester United.

Club legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho, with a famous quote of ‘mountains are there to be climbed’ Ole led united to comeback against PSG from 2-0 in that famous night in Paris. Only losing 1 league game in his spell as interim manager he was offered the permanent job at Manchester United. Solskjaer went on the finish 2^nd in the premier league with Manchester united and break the record for longest away unbeaten run. Counter- attacking Manchester united side were a force to be reckoned with in the 2020-2021 season. However, once again poor recruitment and financial aid from owners seen Manchester United miss out on marquee signings limiting Manchester United. Although, legend Cristiano Ronaldo was brought back to the club, a magical return to the theatre of dreams turned into a nightmare as United’s form dwindled. Ole and Cristiano Rinaldo being the main talking points on social media. After a few embarrassing defeats such as a 5-0 loss the Liverpool, Ole parted ways with Manchester United.

Fans have had enough. Fans took to the streets and in numbers to protest against the glazers due to the talk of entering ‘the super league’ which was supposed to be a competition like the Champions League, but the same teams are entered without qualifying. This caused real issues amongst fans as they felt this was caused by greed, owners wanted to line their own pockets.

Ralf Rangnick was appointed to see out the 2021/22 season which was seen as a ‘wasted’ season as united didn’t win silverware again and only qualified for the Europa League. Ralf Rangnick came in as an Advisor but took the managerial job for 6 months to see the season out. Was this a good idea? It’s believed United had planned to wait for Erik Ten Hag in the summer, explaining this decision. Ralf Rangnick was not very beneficial performance based for the club– suffering another massive defeat to Liverpool. However, with Rangnick leaving at the end of the season, some believe Rangnick contributed well, exposing united and where they need to improve, stating ‘it’s open surgery at the heart’, aiding them in the structural change needed under new boss Erik Ten Hagg.

 

Cameron Long.