Can new manager Erik Ten Hag lead Manchester United back to glory after years of misery?
What happened last year?
The excitement of Cristiano Ronaldo’s return to Old Trafford soon faded as the Portuguese striker’s individual record would prove to be one of the only bright sparks in an otherwise dismal season for the Red Devils.
With the club failing to perform with any kind of consistency the tide finally turned against club-legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was dismissed from his managerial post on the 21st of November.
Michael Carrick’s spell as interim manager was short lived and he was replaced by another interim coach in the form of Ralf Rangnick until the end of the season.
Rangnick struggled to repair a fractured dressing room and United ended their season sixth in the League, extending their trophyless run to five seasons.
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Key signings?
Lisandro Martínez
The most expensive acquisition of the Erik Ten Hag era so far is Argentinian centre back Lisandro Martínez. Martínez joins United from Ten Hag’s previous club Ajax, for a fee in the region of £50 million. Martínez played a crucial role in a League title winning campaign for Ajax in which they only conceded 19 goals in the Eredivisie.
Tyrell Malacia
The first signing of Ten Hag’s tenure was 22-year-old Dutch left-back, Tyrell Malacia. Malacia featured in 50 games in all competitions last season and was a key player in Feyenoord’s league campaign which saw them finish in third position securing a Europa League qualification spot and was key for them reaching the Europa League Conference final.
Christian Eriksen
Manchester United have also acquired the services of Danish midfielder Christian Eriksen on a free transfer. The former Brentford player will add strength in depth to Erik Ten Hag’s squad and brings a significant threat from set pieces. Despite bringing in set piece coach Eric Ramsay, Man Utd managed only seven goals from set pieces last season, the third fewest in the League. Eriksen could be key in providing a threat from dead-ball situations.
And who’s out?
Paul Pogba
Manchester United have now sold the same player to the same club twice as Paul Pogba completed his move to Juventus on a free transfer. The French midfielder’s return to Manchester never quite lived up to expectation with the 29-year-old failing to recreate his international form at club level to put together a run of performances.
Jesse Lingard
Jesse Lingard completed a sensational move to newly promoted Nottingham Forest early this month on a free transfer. It was well documented that the 29-year-old was looking for a move but it was Forest who managed to acquire his services, offering a more lucrative contract than the likes of West Ham.
What can we expect from them in 2022/23?
Once again, there is renewed optimism at Old Trafford after a successful pre-season. It remains to be seen whether this will translate to results come the start of the season but Erik Ten Hag seems to have steadied the ship in his time as manager so far. Barring the public pursuit of Frankie De Jong, Manchester United have gone about their business quietly strengthening in key areas.
While they aren’t yet in a position to challenge for the title, United fans will at least be hoping for an improvement on last season.
Where do the odds project them to finish?
The majority of bookmakers project Manchester United to finish fifth this season at the best price of 39/1 ahead of Arsenal and behind City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea. United fans will be hoping to qualify for the Champions League this year after missing out last campaign but bookmakers expect the Red Devils to fall just short.
Any recommended bets?
The ‘Top 4 on Christmas Day’ market looks like a promising angle for those wishing to back Man Utd this season, this can be found at the best price of 5/2. They’ve enjoyed a solid pre-season and even if they don’t have the consistency to perform all season we can expect a fast start to the Ten Hag era. In the first half of the season they play a number of the bigger sides at home so have the chance to amass a decent amount of points if they can carry through their pre-season form.
