Erik ten Hag’s first few months as Manchester United manager have been a success, despite the horrid start to the season.
Since those defeats to Brighton and Brentford, the Reds have lost just two league games and sit fifth, three points off the top four. Ten Hag has had to weather a number of storms during the period.
He’s got a new one to deal with regarding Cristiano Ronaldo, who said he had no respect for his boss during last week’s bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. This comes after his early exit against Rayo Vallecano in pre-season and his suspension for refusing to come on against Tottenham, both of which Ten Hag dealt with excellently.
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The Dutchman has also had to contend with a wash of injuries, including three to his main striker. Anthony Martial has played in just five Premier League matches this season due to his three setbacks.
Raphael Varane has also picked up a handful of injuries while Antony and Marcus Rashford have had to deal with problems and Jadon Sancho has also recently suffered from illness. All this has meant Ten Hag has been forced to rotate his squad and has not had the chance to field his best XI.
He was close to doing so against Everton in October, but Martial came off with a back problem just half-an-hour into his first league start of the campaign. Varane came on for a few minutes at the end to help him towards peak fitness following an ankle issue picked up in the 6-3 loss to Manchester City.
All other players in the line-up were arguably part of his strongest selection. David de Gea and Diogo Dalot have been both mainstays in Ten Hag ’s team.
Meanwhile, competition for the left-back slot has seen Luke Shaw raise his levels, albeit Tyrell Malacia has also shown what he can do this season so both could argue they deserve to be in United's strongest side. Lisandro Martinez and Varane are comfortably Ten Hag's strongest centre-back pairing.
Christian Eriksen has been sensational this season and his midfield triad with Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes has blossomed. Marcus Rashford - United ’s top scorer this season with eight goals - is clearly more effective on the left and Antony has settled in well on the right.
First-choice Martial started ahead of Ronaldo against Everton before the latter came on to replace the injured Frenchman to score the winner and his 700th career goal in the 2-1 win. But the truth is that the superstar does not get into Ten Hag’s starting XI and so his exit attempts may be solving his manager a problem.
The fact Ten Hag has not been able to start his best line-up this season actually bodes well for United. Their promising start to the campaign means fans have not seen United at full strength and what they are capable of at top capacity.
It also means the wins over Liverpool, Tottenham and table-toppers Arsenal look evermore greater accomplishments and that the club are in a position to have a sustained crack at the top four this season once everyone is fit and firing.
Strength in depth is obviously an issue, especially in attack. United need to reinforce the frontline, especially amid Ronaldo’s certain exit and Martial’s persistent injuries - perhaps sooner rather than later if Ronaldo exits in January.
But once Ten Hag is able to unleash his strongest XI consistently, United will be an even greater force. More is to come.
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