‘Not right for me’ – Jamie Carragher names three major Man Utd problems Ten Hag must solve to achieve title charge
Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag
Jamie Carragher has done an in-depth analysis of the Manchester United midfield and revealed three changes manager Erik ten Hag must make if the Red Devils are to challenge the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal for the Premier League title this season.
In the season opener against Wolves, Ten Hag selected a midfield three of Casemiro, captain Bruno Fernandes and summer signing Mason Mount. While that midfield trio is brimming with quality, they did not have the physicality or defensive awareness needed to cope with Wolves’ powerful midfield runs.
After that game, which ended in a 1-0 win to Man Utd, Carragher suggested Ten Hag ‘already needs to remodel his midfield’ with the signing of Casemiro’s replacement, as the 31-year-old is now too old to boss games on his own.
Ten Hag selected the same midfield three against Tottenham on Saturday. However, Casemiro was once again left isolated as both Fernandes and Mount failed to track back and help him out.
Pape Sarr and Yves Bissouma dominated the middle of the pitch for Spurs, while James Maddison was also allowed to roam free and orchestrate attacks. Spurs went on to win that game 2-0, and the poor Man Utd performance prompted Roy Keane to hand Ten Hag’s side ‘the biggest insult I can give’.
During an appearance on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football, Carragher looked into the reasons why Man Utd’s midfield has been so open at the start of the new campaign.
He thinks there are three main issues Ten Hag must solve to help Man Utd become successful. The Dutchman must change his setup (potentially to include a more defensive midfielder at Mount’s expense), alter the way he’s asking his players to play and change the profile of the midfielders he is using by landing a new signing.
“The setup of the midfield is not right for me,” the former Liverpool defender said (via talkSPORT). “I’m going to look at Casemiro but I think there’s a few things wrong, I think the manager’s setup, what he’s asking them to do, and the setup in terms of the profile of players is not right.
Man Utd have a ‘disconnected’ midfield – Jamie Carragher
“The reason why I don’t like the setup of the manager is because he plays a man-marking system. You see how disconnected the United midfield three are because they go man-to-man.
“This guy in midfield [Casemiro], as we saw on Monday night and we saw constantly on Saturday night, is being left exposed in the middle of the pitch on his own, and he can’t cope.
“In this situation, James Maddison just runs on the back of him, gets away from him and again, you’re right at the United back four.”
On Casemiro specifically, Carragher continued: “He plays a nice pass in but this is about nothing else but Casemiro. He makes a decision to go, when this ball is turned over he should hold his position, he goes flying in there, so does Mount.
“But, he’s bypassed so easily by Maddison when he gets there. Maddison is a good player, technically good but he’s not quick and that is far too easy and again, right through the heart of the United midfield.”
Man Utd are pushing to improve Ten Hag’s midfield by signing Sofyan Amrabat from Fiorentina. It seems they could do with completing that deal before their next game against a ‘big six’ rival, which is the trip to Arsenal on September 3.
Meanwhile, Mason Greenwood has already had one transfer route shut down following his Man Utd departure.
