Ten Hag’s Impact Crucial – The View On Man Utd
- Manchester United host Leicester City this Sunday
- The Red Devils sit third in the Premier League table
- ESPN’s Mark Ogden analyses their promising season to date
- Erik ten Hag’s management has proved effective, he says
Their pursuit of returning to former glory years has certainly taken a step in the right direction over recent months, with the former Ajax head coach able to impose his own style of play and beliefs on the players, with impressive results.
Ahead of tackling Leicester City at Old Trafford on Sunday (2pm GMT kick-off), Man Utd sit third in the Premier League while remaining in the hunt for silverware across three cup competitions.
Ogden told LCFC Radio’s Matchday Live show this week: “After those first two games, losing to Brighton at home and quite heavily away to Brentford, it looked like it was going to be a really bad season, but he’s steadied the ship, made some massive decisions – dealing with Cristiano Ronaldo and dropping Harry Maguire.
“He’s decided to do his own thing and that’s contributed to United having a really good season.The fans love the guy; they like his attitude and the fact that he has brought the discipline back. He has not given out any sympathy. No matter who you are and what your reputation is, if you don’t live up to his standards, you’ll be dropped.
“Not only that, he’s brought the results back as well. They are playing decent football, it could be better, but one thing they admire is that he’s getting results out of this team when the squad isn’t that deep.
“They’re third going into the Leicester game and they are still in other competitions, so I don’t think any United fan at this stage last season or in the summer would have said they’d get to the end of February and have a chance of winning a trophy and qualify for the Champions League with some ease.”
The club’s summer recruits have paid dividends, improving key areas of the pitch with quality and experience, while Marcus Rashford has more than stepped up to the plate in front of goal to become a talismanic figure for the Manchester outfit.
“He’s made some fantastic signings,” Ogden continued. “Lisandro Martínez has been excellent, Casemiro has been fantastic and Christian Eriksen has been excellent too. The jury is still out on Antony but the fans have seen that he’s brought in players with real character and heart.
“They’re winners. A mentality is back that had gone last season. He (Marcus Rashford) has absolutely carried United. It’s 13 goals in 15 games prior to Barcelona. He’s scoring so many that the caveat to that is if he stops, or gets injured, or misses a couple of games, they may have a problem.
“He’s been brilliant and got them into the situation they are and had a fantastic season since the World Cup.”
Midway through a two-legged UEFA Europa League play-off clash against Barcelona, with the return fixture at Old Trafford to come next Thursday, ten Hag’s United are juggling several priorities alongside their Premier League commitments.
Switches in personnel did not affect the side away at Elland Road last weekend, however, as the Red Devils emerged 3-0 victors over Leeds United. It may not be so simple against the Foxes, Ogden believes, given Brendan Rodgers’ side’s current run.
He explained: “The manager made some changes to his team at Leeds at the weekend. He didn’t play [Raphaël] Varane or Martínez at the back, which was a surprise. He had Maguire and Luke Shaw there, so he was obviously looking ahead to the Barcelona game.
“United have got a little bit of cushion now in their pursuit of third or fourth spot, because the teams behind them aren’t doing great in terms of winning games. If he thinks he can focus on the games either side of the Leicester game, it’s a risky tactic.
“But they’re at home, it’s not a game where they are having to travel, but Leicester are a dangerous side, we’ve seen that, especially in recent weeks. They are picking up a bit of form and have a lot of pace in the side.
“They had a free week too, so that would be my concern if he’s focusing on the Barcelona games, with the second leg next week, it could cause a problem at the weekend.”