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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Dan Marsh

Erik ten Hag made obvious admissions when naming his leaders at Man Utd

In recent years, Manchester United have been plagued by a lack of leadership and accountability as they slowly slipped down the domestic pecking order.

But the appointment of Erik ten Hag in the summer has changed the club's trajectory - and it certainly feels as though there is no longer a dearth of dressing room leaders at Old Trafford.

The nucleus of the dressing room that limped to the club's worst-ever finish in Premier League history have flourished under the Dutchman's guidance and are firmly on track to re-establish a place in next season's Champions League.

Remarkably, they've done so without the services of club captain Harry Maguire, who has spent the majority of the season on the bench after losing his first-team spot in the opening weeks of the campaign.

Midfield talisman Bruno Fernandes has donned the armband in Maguire's absence, but speaking after United's defeat against Arsenal back in January, Ten Hag was quick to highlight the other players who have stepped up to lead both on and off the pitch this season.

"I have many leaders in [David] De Gea, [Raphael] Varane, [Christian] Eriksen and [Luke] Shaw,” Ten Hag explained before the defeat. “I have no worries about leadership and with this team, we beat them the first time and in this team, we have confidence”.

Although United went on to lose the match 3-2, Ten Hag's comments underline that this current squad is full of leaders - and there are two other names who were omitted from Ten Hag's list who could also be considered as dressing room leaders in the form of Lisandro Martinez and Scott McTominay.

Join the debate! Who do you think should be Man Utd's captain next season? Let us know here.

Lisandro Martinez has evolved into a leader for Manchester United since his summer switch from Ajax (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

Both Martinez and McTominay were at the forefront of the inquest following United's heavy 6-3 defeat in the Manchester derby earlier in the season, with the duo described as the "most vocal" in the dressing room, where tempers were said to have 'boiled over' in the wake of the chastening result.

While McTominay has been in and out of the United team since then, Martinez has quickly established himself as one of the club's most important players since his summer switch from Ajax and is one of the main reasons why Maguire has been out in the cold this term.

And Ten Hag was full of praise for the Argentinian international, who he worked with in Amsterdam, as recently as last month. He said of Martinez: "It’s extraordinary to work with him and because he has that capacity, and he wants to improve day by day. So, it’s nice to see his defending style.

"His attitude – everyone loves it, the fans love it, the defence loves it, and it gives spirit to the team. [When he is] on the ball, he can deal with it. I like him as a player. I like the attitude [that he has], and I hope that we can co-operate for a long time together.”

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