The team was successful.
The decisive stage of the season is coming for Manchester United: the May segment will determine how to evaluate Erik ten Hag’s debut season as head coach of the Mancunians.
The League Cup is already there
The Dutch coach took his first step back in the winter. The English League Cup took place at a time when the Red Devils were in top form and participated in every possible tournament. The first rival was Aston Villa – and at that time the “lions” could not oppose anything Manchester United. Then there was Burnley, Charlton, Nottingham.
The most formidable opponent was waiting for United in the final – they were to play Newcastle. The Magpies in the current campaign want to gain a foothold among the best clubs: they have rich sponsors, a systematic coach has appeared and players have appeared who meet his requirements. At the same time, the final match fell on the segment where Eddie Howe’s wards began to make more mistakes, before meeting Manchester United lost points to West Ham, Bournemouth lost to Liverpool. The Mancunians took advantage of it, confident 2-0 with goals from Casemiro and Rashford.
At the same time, there was talk of a quadruple: United just got into the top 3 and chased City with Arsenal, plus knocked Barca out of the Europa League and played in the FA Cup.
The final evaluation of the season will be in the final stage
At the same time, it was initially clear that the championship in the Premier League is played exclusively between Arsenal and Citizens. It was impossible to wedge into their fight: talk of a quadruple had been provoked rather by a safe move Manchester United.
But the chances of winning the second most important European Cup were great: after Barça, the team knocked out Betis and reached Sevilla in the quarterfinals. The mistakes of Harry Maguire and David De Gea were fatal for United: Mingiani, as experienced champions of the European Cup, took advantage of their failures.
Shortly before that, the Red Devils lost to Newcastle and missed the Forties to the third line, and after that they barely reached the Cup final and missed the victory over Tottenham, so the spring segment after a bright winter was rated negatively.
At the same time, it is worth understanding that in the very first season under ten Hague Manchester United again in the fight for trophies and ready to return to the top 3. The decisive stage, which will have a decisive influence on United’s season rating, is in May-June. Now the team must overcome Newcastle and jump into the top three. Medals for the club, which finished the previous championship in 6th place, is a great success. Another important appointment is that of early June, when the Red Devils will have to challenge City for the FA Cup.
The match will be extremely tense for Manchester United, the neighbors are a much more well-built side, which moreover has found its elite striker. Erling Haaland will be difficult to deal with on the pitch, especially when it comes to the diminutive Lisandro Martinez. I hope Guardiola reaches the final Champions League and decides to save the Norwegian for a more high-profile fight.
There is a slight advantage in the game against Newcastle
The layouts are clear enough. Self Manchester United and Newcastle will keep their usual course, it is between them that the 3rd line will be played – neither Villa, nor Brighton, nor Liverpool will be able to catch up with them.
In the event of a tie on points, the advantage will go to the side of Howe’s team – with a draw in the first round, in the second round the Magpies avenged the Mancunians for the final of the League Cup and won (2:0). Therefore, in this scenario, Newcastle will be higher due to the advantage in personal matches.
United must avoid this outcome. Ten Hag’s team is now 2 points behind Newcastle, but there is an argument for success: Manchester United have a match in hand. Today they will hold a postponed match of the 28th round against Brighton – it was postponed, why. Manchester United played in the Cup quarter-finals. Due to another cup match, the match against Chelsea has been postponed.
Of all the remaining league matches, these appear to be the most important. Brighton are serious rivals, with whom it was very difficult to compete in the semi-finals of the cup. And you can’t lose. The Aristocrats don’t look like a formidable side under Lampard – the Blues haven’t won a single game under him. Although it’s hard to guess what will happen to the team at the end of May.
Reinforcement needed in summer
Man United’s first season under ten in The Hague is unlikely to be called unsuccessful – there is progress in terms of results, in terms of content and in terms of player progress. But a Dutch manager recently made an important observation:
This club has to fight for the main trophies: the Champions League, Premier League. But in football you need money to put together a team, because success depends on the level of the players. Everyone knows that it takes money to put together a team and top level players are very expensive.
I want the future to become clearer as soon as possible, but it’s not up to me. Family [Глейзеров] owns the club, she makes the decisions.
As well as implementing his principles, Eric had to reconcile them with the shortcomings of United’s playing structure.
And especially it is worth focusing on strengthening the attacker’s position. Wout Weghorst, loaned out from Burnley for this very purpose, has not started in league games since the beginning of April. The situation is smoothing out, as Rashford is good at the front – only Markus is needed on the wing, and the forward’s transfer will only increase the attacking potential. One of the objectives is the Serie A that snatches the Napoli striker Victor Osimhen.
