Manchester United’s troubled transfer window clouds new boss Ten Hag’s prospects
The once-mighty Red Devils open their new English Premier League season against Brighton at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Erik ten Hag’s first competitive game on Sunday as Manchester United’s new manager should herald a fresh start for the English Premier League (EPL) club, but familiar failings behind the scenes have made the 52-year-old Dutchman’s already difficult job an almost impossible one.
His predecessor Ralf Rangnick signed off from his miserable caretaker spell last season by stating that the United squad needed “open heart surgery” and up to 10 new players, after labouring to a sixth-placed finish in England’s top division.
So far, only 3 new faces have arrived at Old Trafford – defenders Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia, and attacking midfielder Christian Eriksen.
The current United squad is arguably weaker than last season with Paul Pogba, Edinson Cavani, Jesse Lingard, Nemanja Matic and Juan Mata all leaving on free transfers, while back-up goalkeeper Dean Henderson has joined Nottingham Forest on loan.
The prospect of a much more significant departure is set to hang over the first few weeks of the season, with Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo trying to force his way out in order to play in the Champions League. Manchester United will not feature in Europe’s elite club competition this season, but will play in the second-tier Europa League as a result of their lower-than-expected finish last season.
The 37-year-old Ronaldo made his first appearance of Manchester United’s pre-season preparations last Sunday, playing in the first half of a 1-1 draw against Spanish side Rayo Vallecano. But his decision to then leave the stadium before full-time was deemed “unacceptable” by Ten Hag.
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Friday, 2 pm
Lifestyle
Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself.
The former Ajax Amsterdam manager has shown a disciplinarian streak during his early weeks in charge, reportedly reintroducing fines for bad time-keeping and banning the players having their own personal chefs.
Ten Hag has shown no signs of appeasing Ronaldo’s ego, ordering the 5-time Ballon d’Or winner to get fit after missing most of United’s preparations for the new campaign.
“It starts with him getting fit because he’s only just started,” said Ten Hag. “He is a fantastic football player, and he has proved it so many times, but you are always judged on what you are presenting now and how you are performing now So, the team and Cristiano himself has to prove it.”
Ronaldo’s likely absence from the starting line-up for the season opener against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday (9pm kickoff, Singapore time) offers the chance for the likes of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jadon Sancho to get their United careers back on track.
Martial - who spent the second half of last season on loan at Sevilla - will miss the first game through injury. Both him and Rashford were part of the attacking fulcrum of the team that finished second in the EPL under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 2020/21 season, only to be squeezed out by the arrivals of Ronaldo, Cavani and Jadon Sancho.
Rashford’s slump in form led to him being dropped from the England squad, but he is feeling the benefits of a summer without international commitments.
“This is my first year I have been with the team since the beginning (of pre-season),” said Rashford. “I feel a lot better than usual, when I go away with the national team and come back partway through pre-season. It is important to get a fresh start. I feel fresh and ready.”
Sancho, meanwhile, has struggled to live up to his £73 million (S$121.9 million) price tag in his first season at United after arriving from Germany’s Borussia Dortmund, but he has teamed up well with Rashford and Martial in a productive pre-season that included a 4-0 victory over arch-rivals Liverpool in Bangkok last month.
Ronaldo is not the only transfer saga of United’s summer as a prolonged and, so far fruitless, chase of Barcelona’s Frenkie de Jong has left Ten Hag rather light in midfield.
That could mean a role in the middle of the park of the versatile Martinez, who has reunited with his old boss at Ajax. The 24-year-old Argentine mainly played at centreback for the Dutch champions, but his diminutive 1.75-metre stature has raised doubts over his ability to play that role effectively in the competitive EPL.
When Ten Hag was first unveiled at Manchester United, he set his sights on chasing down Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the EPL. But given the difficult cards he has been dealt, just finishing in the top four - and qualifying for next season’s Champions League - will be regarded as a monumental achievement. AFP
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
