Two Manchester United players who will benefit from Erik ten Hag tactical change

There has been one major tactical change noticed during Manchester United’s 2024 pre-season tour of the United States.

The Reds played five friendly games in the last month, three of which were during the tour of America, where they played Arsenal, Real Betis, and Liverpool.

While Erik ten Hag’s side have only won twice, there have been some positives to take from the overall performances.

One of the main changes we saw was the pressing and counter-pressing structure from the team – something that didn’t work so often last season.

United set up in a 4-2-4 / 4-4-2 out-of-possession pressing structure with the wingers tucked inside while the striker and attacking midfielder blocked passing lanes to the opposition’s central midfielders.

There seemed to be more obvious pressing triggers which helped United regain possession of the ball.

With further refinement, this could be a change that helps United a lot going forward, and two players in particular could benefit from it.

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As mentioned, the wingers are much more narrow and compact with the central players. It is perhaps the biggest change from last season without the ball.

Wingers at Old Trafford were often chasing blind and usually had to cover too large a distance to make a significant impact. Sometimes, it would work, but teams could often work around them, especially when the fullbacks were not backing up the press.

In this structure, there is hope for less running for the two wide players in such situations. Marcus Rashford has been praised for his pressing so far in pre-season and it is largely because his role already looks much more defined.

There’s not nearly as much physical stress but a lot more mental work, with the players needing to understand the correct pressing triggers and cover the passing lanes into players behind them.

Yet that is a much more ideal way to prepare, especially when you are a player who is expected to offer powerful attacks throughout a game. Almost no winger can be fully impactful if they’re wasting their energy off the ball.

The likes of Rashford, Amad Diallo, Jadon Sancho and Alejandro Garnacho could be the players that benefit most from this adjustment as long as Ten Hag and his coaching staff continue to work on it going into the new season.

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