Ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League season, we look at the main questions hanging over Manchester United and Erik ten Hag.
In 2023-24, Erik ten Hag struggled to build on the promising strides he made during his first season as Manchester United manager and, for a while, he looked likely to leave. But, following a commendable 2-1 FA Cup final win over Manchester City, the Dutchman was awarded a one-year contract extension that – crucially – saw United publicly back the man at the helm.
Even if cynics felt it was a transparent gesture after United apparently failed to convince reported targets such as Thomas Tuchel to take over, it nonetheless secured Ten Hag another crack. So, ahead of his third season in the Old Trafford hotseat, what are the key questions facing Ten Hag going into 2024-25?
Can Ten Hag Tighten Man Utd Up?
While the order of the questions in this article might be mostly arbitrary, this particular entry comes first because many will see it as a priority.
There’s no getting away from it, teams found United too easy to play through last season. Their opponents registered 620 transitions reaching the final third, more than any other Premier League team, and 205 of those resulted in shots – only relegated Luton Town (215) and Newcastle United (208) had poorer records than that. They also faced the third most shots from fast breaks (36).
All of this contributed to United facing the second most shots (667) of all top-flight teams in 2023-24, with only rock-bottom Sheffield United (678) – widely considered one of the worst sides in Premier League history – conceding more.
In the interest of balance, it’s worth noting that United’s 58 goals conceded was only bettered by four clubs, with Ten Hag calling the criticism relating to their shots faced figure “ridiculous” in that context.
Nevertheless, it was still the most goals let in by United in a league campaign since 1978-79 (63), 15 more than they conceded in Ten Hag’s first season and their 70.1 xG against was the fifth worst in the division.
The cause, Ten Hag believes, was unmistakable. “I see the stats and it’s clear,” he told Sky Sports in May. “Last season [2022-23], we had the consistent back four, we did the same and we had the most clean sheets in the Premier League. So, when everyone is fit, they can deliver the way we want to defend, but it also has something to do with the possession.
“When you don’t have the players at the back and the patterns, when you don’t have the left-footed players on the left side, you already have to make your adjustments.”
He added: “We thought about [a defensive setup], but one of my objectives here was to bring in a proactive way of play. The players will return, so if you then adjust to a very defensive style and it doesn’t fit the players we already have, then if you don’t get the results, everyone will lose confidence.”
United’s defensive injury crisis was a key talking point last term, with no centre-back pairing playing together more than seven times in all competitions. Losing Lisandro Martínez for much of the season was an especially bitter blow, as could be seen by his performance in the FA Cup final, and they went much of the campaign without a natural left-back.
While new signing Leny Yoro has already been ruled out until October with a foot injury, United surely won’t be as unlucky in this department as they were last season, with Matthijs de Ligt also set to join. If they can then bring in a quality, mobile defensive midfielder to either replace, supplant or help Casemiro, they’ll theoretically be well on their way to being less susceptible in transition.
They have to be if they want to challenge for a top-four place or better.
Will This Be Amad’s Season?
Amad Diallo’s Manchester United career hasn’t been straightforward. After a smattering of opportunities under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a teenager, it seemed pretty clear he wasn’t ready for top-flight football, and an underwhelming loan spell at Rangers did little to improve his standing.
He then made positive steps during the 2022-23 season while at Sunderland, earning himself a spot back in the United squad for 2023-24 only for a knee injury sustained days before the campaign started to rule him out until December.
A cameo in United’s final game of 2023 marked his return, but he wasn’t even named among the substitutes again until late January, with his second appearance of the season following on 24 February.
His dramatic, last-gasp extra-time breakaway goal in the astonishing 4-3 FA Cup win over Liverpool in March felt like a turning point, however. Released by Alejandro Garnacho on the counter, Amad evaded the Reds’ last defender Conor Bradley and held his nerve to win the tie against United’s bitter rivals. As Diego Forlan will attest, it’s the kind of impact that earns you a place in Manchester United folklore.
A red card for exuberant celebrations mattered little and could be easily forgiven, and Amad continued to show positive glimpses for the rest of the campaign. Among them was the gorgeous strike – his first Premier League goal – in the 3-2 defeat of Newcastle, a match in which he also played an instrumental role in a Kobbie Mainoo goal.
So often there seemed to be a playfulness underpinned by confidence and bravery in the Ivorian’s game; he felt like the antithesis of Antony, who looked utterly sapped of belief practically all season.
The Brazilian’s lack of productivity undoubtedly played a part in Amad getting opportunities, and in pre-season this time around, the latter has been one of United’s most prominent players. He was also arguably one of their better performers in the penalty-shootout defeat to Manchester City in the Community Shield last weekend, with his direct style and positive runs in behind causing havoc.
“At the end of last season, he had a very good time in our first team and played some good games,” Ten Hag said of Amad early in pre-season after impressing against Rangers. “Now for this season, this has to be [his] year. It’s great that he starts like this.”
Ten Hag isn’t short of options on the flanks, as we’ll touch on again shortly, but it feels like that right-wing berth is – for the time being – Amad’s to lose.
Does Mount Have What It Takes to Be a Success?
In his first season as a United player, Mason Mount often resembled something of a forgotten man. Frequently kept off the pitch by injuries and invariably ineffective on it when available, he looked a shadow of the player who’d once excelled in a Chelsea team that won the Champions League.
Let’s not forget, United could end up shelling out a whopping £60 million for the midfielder, so if he cannot rediscover anything like his best, he’ll go down as an expensive disappointment.
But of course, we’ve seen before that he does possess the talent. Prior to a thoroughly underwhelming final season at Stamford Bridge, Mount was a key player for Chelsea and arguably one of the Premier League’s best – certainly when considered exclusively among midfielders.
Across the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, Mount ranked fifth in the Premier League for chances created (145), behind only Kevin De Bruyne, Bruno Fernandes, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Son Heung-min. He was eighth for total assists (15) but ranked fourth for expected assists (13.8), suggesting that others’ totals were bloated by good finishing in a way that Mount’s wasn’t.
His importance to that team, however, was best encapsulated by his involvement in sequences that ended in a shot. Over the course of 2020-21 and 2021-22, Mount ranked seventh in the Premier League for the number of times he played a part in a shot-ending sequence (375), and fifth on a per-90-minute basis (min. 4,000 minutes played).
His 375 involvements in shot-ending sequences were also 120 more than any other Chelsea player over the period in question.
At his best, Mount can offer so much. He works hard off the ball and is disciplined in that respect, hence why he’s often been regarded as a coach’s dream; yet he’s also a goal threat and has a track record of being a reliable creator. There aren’t many more well-rounded attacking midfielders in the Premier League than a fully fit and on-form Mount.
But it’s over two years now since we saw Mount at his best and his cause isn’t helped by the fact he generally excelled the most at Chelsea as a kind of right-sided 10. Unless Ten Hag specifically adapts his team to squeeze a fully fit Mount into that role, it’s a position that doesn’t really exist in this United setup, as demonstrated by him mostly playing a deeper role when he did feature last term.
He started the Community Shield in an advanced position that he and Bruno Fernandes rotated between; while he wasn’t hugely influential, had Amad produced a better final pass at the end of one brilliant first-half move, Mount would’ve been left with a tap-in.
Obviously, staying free of injury will dramatically improve Mount’s chances of carving out a memorable career at Old Trafford, but the signs so far suggest he’s going to need to adapt.
Should he get some rhythm again, Mount could be like a new signing.
Can Rashford, Antony and Sancho Save Their Man Utd Careers?
It’s difficult to imagine Marcus Rashford playing for anyone but United, and perhaps ‘saving his Man Utd career’ is a slightly dramatic take on his particular situation; however, 2023-24 was a disappointing one individually and there’s been plenty of speculation over the past year about his future potentially lying elsewhere.
We know what he’s capable of at this level, though, and there’ll undoubtedly be many hopeful that he can rediscover the kind of form he displayed in 2022-23, comfortably his best season in senior football.
In that respect, and the fact he’s an academy product, he’s arguably earned a little more patience than most. Antony and Jadon Sancho, however, don’t have much – if any – credit left in the bank and therefore must be fighting for their futures.
Sancho is at least back in the first-team picture having seemingly buried the hatchet with Ten Hag after a public spat last year resulted in the England international being exiled and ultimately loaned back to Borussia Dortmund.
He helped them to the Champions League final, and while he struggled for the same consistency he showed in his previous spell at Signal Iduna Park, there were absolutely some flashes of the quality he possesses – his display against Paris Saint-Germain in the first leg of the UCL semi-final, for example, was something to behold.
But Sancho has a long way to go to realising his potential at United. While goals and assists might not be everything when it comes to measuring player ability/impact, it was this output in the final third that earned him the move to Old Trafford as he managed 107 goal involvements in 137 games for Dortmund. He’s managed just 18 in 82 for United.
The 2024-25 campaign will be his fourth season with United; he’s running out of time.
Remarkably, though, Sancho’s probably not the most disappointing big-money winger in the United squad. Antony cost even more at a reported £82m and has been so underwhelming that the club were reported to have put him up for sale this summer.
Perhaps unsurprisingly considering his wages and how United would want to limit the financial hit on selling him cheap, a buyer hasn’t been found. At least from his perspective that provides him with another chance, but there’ll need to be a considerable improvement from him this season.
Across his two years in the Premier League, Antony’s averaged just 1.4 chances created in open play per 90 minutes; since the start of 2022-23, as many as 58 players (minimum 1,000 minutes played) have a better record than that.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, though. Don’t forget that until his goal against Burnley in April this year, he’d scored just once – in April 2023 – in the top flight since netting in each of his first three Premier League outings in September/October 2022.
He lost his place on the right to Garnacho last term and only got it back due to injuries to other players in attack; Sancho’s now in the fold again and Amad appears to be making swift progress, so the Brazilian is fighting a losing battle.
First Came Garnacho, Then Mainoo; Who’s Next?
Garnacho was the breakthrough act in Ten Hag’s first season, then Kobbie Mainoo assumed that role last term. Could there be another academy talent to emerge as a viable first-team option in 2024-25?
Certainly, as Ten Hag outlined in February, the club feels bringing youngsters through at the moment is a genuine option, and there’s plenty of potential coming through the youth sides.
“We are now building a team that can really offer a foundation for players to come in,” the manager said. “We built the foundation that you can add quality players to the squad and take the team to the next level.”
The two who look most likely to make the step up and enjoy gametime in the senior side at least semi-regularly are left-back Harry Amass and central midfielder Toby Collyer.
Collyer was signed from Brighton two years ago and Amass left Watford in 2023, so while they’re hardly products of the local area, both have been learning the ropes in the youth sides and made a real impression.
Their names were regularly seen among the substitutes towards the end of the 2023-24 Premier League season. While neither made their debuts, they were prominent in pre-season, featuring in all five of United’s friendlies and Collyer went on to make a substitute appearance in the Community Shield, too.
Collyer is a very well-rounded midfielder. He’s athletic, physical, technically strong, a good passer and boasts sound positional awareness that aids composure under pressure. He stood out in the friendly against Arsenal and impressed in the 3-2 win over Real Betis, with his blend of abilities suggesting he could offer something entirely different to every other midfielder in the squad.
The 20-year-old is highly regarded by United and seems very likely to make his Premier League bow during the early weeks of the campaign, assuming he doesn’t pick up an injury like Mainoo did around this time last year.
Amass is a fair bit younger than Collyer and therefore not quite as far along in his development, both physically and generally as a footballer. Nevertheless, the 17-year-old full-back clearly has ability in abundance.
Skillful, quick and adventurous, Amass earned rave reviews for his displays in the various age groups last season and didn’t look out of place in pre-season, with his positivity – aided by a slice of luck – and cross leading to Amad’s brilliant strike against Betis. He then acquitted himself well against Mohamed Salah in a friendly loss to Liverpool.
Considering the injury issues United had at the back last term and with Tyrell Malacia not expected to be available until at least October, Amass’ emergence could be timely. After all, Martínez was used at left-back in the Community Shield, and that wasn’t ideal either.
It was understandable, to a degree, why Ten Hag might not have wanted to throw a 17-year-old into the starting XI against Man City for his debut, but if Luke Shaw and Malacia cannot be relied upon to stay fit, it’s surely only a matter of time until Amass gets a shot.
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