As the summer transfer window reaches its final hours, Manchester United’s squad for 2024-25 is slowly settling into place.
Manuel Ugarte will be the fifth new permanent signing made this summer, a combative defensive midfielder who will go a long way to reinvigorate the pressing and counter-pressing that made Erik ten Hag’s side so formidable at Old Trafford in 2022-23. The club has also been more decisive when moving players on, with senior personnel who featured in the first team last season departing on a permanent basis.
Ten Hag is now in his third season in charge of United, with a new coaching team around him and a new executive team — led by INEOS — working above him. Barring any sudden, surprise movements in the final hours of the transfer window, his squad for the campaign is (mostly) in place.
Now the question becomes what he does with it.
In the above graphic, Jadon Sancho’s name has been struck through as — at the time of writing — his future at the club remains in the air. If he continues to be in the squad after the window closes, it may take him a while to make meaningful contributions to the starting lineup.
What is the 2024-25 squad best equipped to do?
Towards the end of last season, Ten Hag relaxed his ambitions to turn United into the best transition team in the world, but the 2024-25 squad remains one optimised for playing in bursts of direct and pacy football.
The United manager has an assortment of attacking options most dangerous when running behind defences.
Bruno Fernandes has shown himself capable of turbo-charging United teams of fluctuating quality towards the top four positions in the league and deep runs in the cup competitions. United will be most dangerous when they attack in transitional moments. The introduction of Joshua Zirkzee to the squad, combined with the reintegration of Mason Mount and Amad Diallo into the first-team picture, should help them generate more of these situations in matches.
Ten Hag’s continued use of the 4-2-4 from the tail end of last season and in the FA Cup has seen United improve in their quality and consistency when pressing opponents high up the field. Ugarte should sit behind United’s collection of forwards, mopping up any mistakes lest the side open themselves up to counter-attacks.
Ugarte should provide a safety net for the forward line (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
The acquisitions of Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Leny Yoro mean Ten Hag has extra tools when looking to build from the back and progress the ball from deep areas.
In short: ‘United 2024-25’ should be able to replicate much of what made the team good in Ten Hag’s first season in charge. Each of the new signings has addressed a problem position, and the side has raised its technical and physical floor. If things go wrong, Ten Hag has extra tools to try to fix the situation.
Does the 2024-25 squad have any notable concerns?
The Athletic has tried to outline the many, many, many different ways United were bad in 2023-24. The multi-faceted nature of their disorderly campaign made it harder for the powers at be to address everything in a single summer. But it is nearly impossible for the mistakes of last season to combine into the same imperfect storm that disrupted so much of what happened on the field.
United will be better this upcoming season, if only by having experienced the troubles of everything that came before.
Ten Hag’s preferred tactical approach often sees multiple players get forward in an attempt to overload the last line of an opposition’s defence. By committing so many players ahead of the ball and trying to play direct, United can leave themselves vulnerable to counter-attacks if the ball is lost.
The Dutchman has tweaked this in the opening two matches of the new season, shortening the distances between Casemiro and team-mates when United are defending. Yet the team are likely to exhibit many of the same frailties seen in the previous two seasons.
Ugarte, Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez are among those who will need to dominate the majority of their duels to keep them afloat. Fernandes will again have to be at his maximum (in terms of playing quality and availability) to help a squad that is “missing” a guaranteed 20-goal-a-season threat. A lot will also be asked from Kobbie Mainoo in his sophomore season. Opposition teams and scouts study him much more closely, looking to exploit any weaknesses in his defensive positioning and tackling.
Mainoo will be under scrutiny this time round (Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)
Injury luck at left-back will go a long way toward shaping United’s season. If Luke Shaw can play close to (or even above) 2,000 Premier League minutes in 2024-25, then the side should be much better when defending and attacking. If he cannot, Ten Hag will have to place a square peg in a round hole again.
This season’s squad is better than the one that played the majority of minutes of 2023-24. However, many more things have to go right for United to finish in the Champions League places than the list of things that could go wrong and consign them to another season of Europa League football.
In short: There’s merit in United rebuilding the team to play in a similar fashion to 2022-23. Ten Hag was successful in his first season in charge, but also suffered a handful of heavy defeats and struggled to beat top teams away from home. United are iterating on what worked well before, but do they have the right combination of players to innovate on top of that?
What’s Ten Hag’s strongest XI?
Two weeks ago, we offered the following…
Ugarte’s signing would see him replace Casemiro in the above lineup, and Yoro can supplant De Ligt as an option at right centre-back should the situation need it. For more on how Zirkzee can change the variety of United’s attacks, head here.
For significant periods of 2023-24, United found themselves troubled by a worrying gap in central midfield, born from an inconsistent high press and an assortment of defenders who are most effective when working inside their own penalty area.
“We have to keep the ball longer, otherwise we are coming into a tennis match,” said Ten Hag when asked about the situation in March. “When we want to watch a tennis match, we go to Wimbledon.”
United’s new additions should help with how the team passes and regains the ball. The back four in the “Best XI” combines four technical and combative defenders who can progress the ball and dominate the majority of their duels — both inside and outside United’s penalty area. While the left-back situation is a concern, Ten Hag should now have at least one additional centre-back who is comfortable passing the ball out from the back.
The arrival of Mazraoui now means the team have two right-backs who can progress the ball and further United’s attacking threat down the right.
United’s most dangerous front four still combines talents who are happiest when running into space, rather than those who can pull apart deep defences with intricate passing moves. This is intentional; Ten Hag empowers his wide players to beat their full-backs and, from there, the team builds its most dangerous momentum.
Rasmus Hojlund can be a potent goalscoring threat when running the channels. If Fernandes is given time on the ball with the game in front of him, Ten Hag’s side should improve their mediocre attacking results from 2023-24 when only 64 per cent of their shots were from inside the box, the third-lowest in the league.
Fernandes will still be key to what United can achieve (Michael Regan/Getty Images)
Central midfield remains an area of intrigue (or frustrating concern), but Mainoo has impressed with how well he can receive the ball between the lines before carrying it through tight spaces. Watch the 19-year-old for long enough and there’s reason to believe he could further blossom and have a degree of progressive passing skills to aid the team further.
United are not yet the finished article. Ten Hag has already discussed Euro 2024 and Copa America’s knock-on effects on pre-season preparations and how it could take additional time for things to coalesce.
But, for example, Andre Onana should have a better second season at the club, and the trio of defensive signings should improve how the team progress the ball between the penalty areas, in theory. Teams at the top of the Premier League build out from the back like a cement mixer laying down the foundations of a building. United’s attempts are closer to the early artwork sketches still coming together.
In short: United should be able to play more proactively compared to last season. The 2024-25 squad contains more players capable of keeping the ball higher up the field for sustained periods of time, and there is increased quality to come off the bench. Ten Hag’s team might not yet be able to control matches continuously from minute one to minute 90, but the good phases of play should last longer, and the bad phases should be less disastrous.
What is likely to be Ten Hag’s Plan B?
Is the 4-2-4 the preferred solution to the problems of 2023-24? Or is it a Plan B with which Ten Hag is persisting until he has certain players back to full match sharpness?
Only time will tell, but the following starting line-up was used in games against Fulham and Brighton.
The 4-2-4 seeks to disrupt the opposition’s early build-up patterns, either pressuring a team to pass wide to the full-backs or funnelling the ball into difficult passes into central midfield, where Mainoo and Casemiro are waiting to regain possession. (A note of caution: the system can be disturbed when goalkeepers good with their feet either contribute to build-up play like an outfielder or make accurate long passes into their attackers behind.)
A hamstring injury to Mount has complicated the shape’s continued use. The Englishman is the pacesetter for United’s press, able to predict accurately how the opposition wishes to build out from the back and how best to disrupt it.
Ten Hag has a choice in the immediate fixtures: replace Mount in the starting lineup with Zirkzee and continue with the 4-2-4, or move back to his 4-2-3-1 with Zirkzee up front.
The issue with Zirkzee’s use is he can be more of a facilitator than an outright goal threat. Alejandro Garnacho’s journey to match sharpness is another wrinkle — the 20-year-old appears on the cusp of catching fire as a goal scorer and can work on either flank.
Ten Hag could also change the central midfield configuration in this formation. A partnership of Ugarte and Casemiro wll need help from the back four to help with ball progression, but it combines two combative tacklers who can plug the hole that has troubled the side for so long.
The fixture list may affect how and when the 4-2-4 is next deployed.
In short: The 4-2-4 is probably (maybe, don’t bet on it) going to be downgraded to Ten Hag’s Plan B once everyone is match fit. What is gained in defensive solidity is lost in United’s penalty box threat. Any tactical plan coming out of United this season has a left-back-shaped question mark.
So what does this all mean? Are United going to be good this season?
Ten years ago, the state of the United squad prompted their manager to come out with this:
David Moyes says #mufc must improve in a number of areas, including passing, creating chances and defending.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) December 9, 2013
United’s player trading this summer should see them improve in a number of areas.
It is now up to players and coaching staff alike to steer the club back towards the Premier League’s summit.
(Top photo: Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty Images)
