Erik ten Hag is changing Manchester United playing style to cover up weaknesses

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

It is clear that Erik ten Hag wants to adopt a fast-paced, possession style of play but if he wants to be successful then he will have to make some Manchester United tweaks along the way – as was shown in the victory against Liverpool on Monday night.

In United’s first two games we saw how Ten Hag would prefer to set up with the two-split centre-backs from a goal kick, one central defensive midfielder with two box-to-box players on either side and the full-backs slotting into the middle of the pitch – similar to how Pep Guardiola operates at Man City.

These principles did not come to fruition, particularly against Brentford where they were embarrassed. It was obvious that Ten Hag needed to make some adjustments and slightly alter his ideology to create a new winning playing style, even if it is just a short-term fix while his players get used to the manager's way of thinking. Read more: United scouting Celtic midfielder Matt O'Riley In the Liverpool game, we saw that instead of playing out from the back, David de Gea chose to launch his goal-kicks over the top into the opposition’s half.

The defenders also cleared the ball at every opportunity instead of trying to play through Liverpool’s high press. These alterations stifled Liverpool's momentum and allowed United to reset and get back into a structured organisation.