The optics of a busy window left a sense that Manchester United were actually behaving like a well-run club. The newly-implemented technical department was busy early, creating a positive impression with a couple of quick signings.
This was followed by judicious moves to renew an ageing defence and then the signature hire, a coveted midfielder of some repute identified as the answer to a long-standing problem.
Not only did the incomings appear to result from a coherent plan, they were balanced by outgoings that for the first time in the club’s history yielded north of £100m. For long-suffering fans it feels like United won the transfer window.
However, that can only be decided on the pitch, and just two games in United have already recorded a Premier League defeat, intensifying the scrutiny around manager Erik ten Hag. At least he has material with which to fashion a response.
Players in
Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manuel Ugarte
The arrival of Yoro immediately validated the new Ineos regime under sporting director Dan Ashworth. Yoro was one of the most sought-after young defenders in the game. But United got their man, a defender with the right age profile, 18, and attributes.
Tall and quick, with good feet, he meets the standard of the modern centre-back, sharp in the tackle, good in the air and able to play out from the back. His injury on the pre-season tour was unfortunate, but United were quick to further augment the defence.
De Ligt hardly flourished at Juventus and Bayern since departing Ajax, where he excelled at the heart of defence.
However, the authority he displayed under Ten Hag in Amsterdam suggests there is still value in a defender as comfortable on the ball as he. Happy in a back three, or a four, De Ligt arrived in a pair with Mazraoui, a utility defender who has made an immediate impression, filling in at left-back.
Striker Zirkzee, 23, is more of an unknown. Though he made the Dutch squad at the Euros, he was under used by Ronald Koeman.
After five years at Bayern, where he joined from Feyenoord at 17 and spent most of his time on loan, Zirkzee established himself at Bologna.
For a man standing 6ft 4ins he has outstanding balance and touch, but in his two substitute appearances so far has lacked aggression and pace. Scoring the winner against Fulham on debut will have helped him settle.
But with Rasmus Hojlund still some weeks away from fitness, the need for Zirkzee to deliver is already gaining urgency.
The key signing was Ugarte, a midfielder in the abrasive South American tradition. Already cast as the new Roy Keane, the Uruguayan clearly meets a need in a part of the pitch that has undermined Ten Hag’s reign.
He loves a tackle and moves the ball quickly. Think Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg-plus. Whether he has the motivational character of Keane or his forward propulsion is still to be determined. At the very least he ought to make United less brittle, which will do for starters.
Players sold
Mason Greenwood, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Hannibal, Facundo Pellistri, Scott McTominay, Willy Kambwala, Alvaro Fernandez, Donny van de Beek, Will Fish
The outgoings are remarkable for the yield, which surpassed £100m for the first time in United’s history, adding to the feeling that the new regime is about its business.
The departure of Greenwood drew a line under a messy episode during which the old regime mishandled the complex issues around the abuse charges, eventually dropped, that were laid against him.
The sale of McTominay to Napoli, more than any other, symbolises the new era.
A product of the academy, McTominay came to represent the post-Fergie period, a player who gave his all, proved himself indispensable to all the coaches under whom he played, but who ultimately fell short of the ridiculously high standards required.
The mood around Old Trafford
As productive as the transfer window has been, other elements of the new working practices under Ineos have been less well received. Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s hard-nosed business approach continues to disrupt with widespread unease triggered by the swathe of staff cuts announced a month ago.
Against that United announced 118 new wheelchair positions at Olde Trafford and 158 amenity seats.
As far as we know the patched-up roof is holding up for now.
A new, 100,000-seater ‘Wembley of the north’ was recommended by the Lord Coe-led Regeneration Task Force last month, with detailed proposals expected by the year’s end.
What to expect from United this season
Though the sample is yet small, in the two games so far United carried over familiar faults from last season, including a lack of goal threat, a propensity for conceding late, and a porous midfield. The quality United need most is authority, the kind that comes from winning.
Ten Hag has failed to imbue his team with any sense of identity. United lack the narcissistic streak of champions, any meaningful appreciation of their own worth. Manchester City, Arsenal and Sunday’s visitors Liverpool share a feeling that they cannot be beaten.
They swagger about the parish exuding confidence and belief. They know they are good and delight in proving it.
This is Ten Hag’s biggest challenge, to trigger in United the primal psyche and personality of serial winners.
The signing of Ugarte is central to this project, a player with the character to lift the performance of others. This was the alchemy Keane brought, evincing from those around him the marginal gains that make a difference.
Ten Hag is already battling negative perceptions following a narrow win at home to Fulham and the late collapse at Brighton, which brought all the old uncertainties and doubts flooding back.
A win against Liverpool would change that, of course, the more so should Ugarte be at the heart of it, freeing Bruno Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo to do their stuff.
Ten Hag needs a solid autumn to build on the FA Cup victory over City and assuage the doubts. A Champions League place is not beyond them, but they have to bump Aston Villa, Spurs and Chelsea to do it, not to mention Brighton and Newcastle. No pressure Erik.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/te3CBGJ
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