Erik ten Hag is now all-but-confirmed to be the new Man United manager. But who will benefit from his appointment?
To their credit, Manchester United haven’t messed around when it comes to finding their new permanent manager.
Mauricio Pochettino and Erik ten Hag were viewed as the main frontrunners for the job, though the latter has seemingly impressed during the interview process.
This summer is all about finding signings that fit his style of play, while also giving the current members of the squad a chance to rediscover their form.
With that in mind, we’ve picked out three struggling United stars who could rediscover their best form under Ten Hag.
Marcus Rashford
First up is the most obvious one. Marcus Rashford’s 2021/22 season has been nothing but an abject failure. The Englishman started the campaign sidelined, before returning to the side back in October.
Rashford never got a pre-season under his belt which has seriously hampered his performances. He’s not looked confident at all, with his play suffering as a result.
The fact that he hasn’t been able to even make a simple pass to a teammate has left us all feeling majorly concerned, though the lack of minutes under Ralf Rangnick hasn’t helped.
A new manager would potentially offer Rashford the confidence that he needs to start playing at an elite level again. Particularly a coach like Ten Hag, who is a big believer in youth.
Harry Maguire
United’s captain has turned into public enemy number one amongst some sections of the fanbase. Some of the criticism is warranted but quite frankly, some of it just feels totally unfair.
Maguire will know more than anyone that some of his displays this term haven’t been anywhere close to being good enough – but in the past, he has shown how good he can be.
Ten Hag is a manager who likes his centre-backs to play the ball out from defence. Maguire does have an excellent range of passing and he’s good at identifying where the ball should go. I genuinely believe the United skipper will start delivering top-level performances under the Dutchman.
Dean Henderson
In the modern-day game, having a goalkeeper who can pass out from the back is also important. Let’s be honest, that’s probably David de Gea’s biggest weakness as a goalkeeper.
Henderson, on the other hand, is pretty good with the ball at his feet. Although you’ll lose something in terms of shot-stopping ability, the overall balance that Hendo would provide feels like the better fit.
I get that it’d be a bold statement to usurp De Gea from the team in favour of the younger, less experienced goalkeeper, but it feels like the right move. Plus, Ten Hag isn’t afraid of making the big decisions. This would also send out a stern message to the rest of the squad as they’d know their place in the XI is far from a guarantee.
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