Thomas Hein
It has been quite the start to the season for Manchester United. After losing their opening two games of the season and finding themselves at the bottom of the table, there has been somewhat of a resurgence since then, winning four league games on the bounce since those opening defeats.
This has certainly helped to lighten the mood around Old Trafford, especially after the dismal 4-0 defeat away at Brentford where things were not looking great for United fans.
Following that game, new manager Erik ten Hag made some bold decisions for the next fixture against Liverpool, dropping Cristiano Ronaldo and captain Harry Maguire to the bench.
It was a mood that paid dividends, with United winning the fixture against their biggest rivals and kick-starting a run of four straight wins.
Since their last league outing against Arsenal on 5 September, United have played just two fixtures, both in the Europa League. The first match, at home to Real Sociedad, was a wake-up call to all those who felt United might have turned a corner, with the side reverting to the negative style of football that was seen in those early fixtures, eventually losing one nil at Old Trafford to the Spaniards.
Following the pause on all Premier League following the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, United will resume their Premier League campaign with the Manchester derby.
They will come up against a buoyant Manchester City side who find themselves in second place in the league, just one point behind early leaders Arsenal.
They will also come up against the in-form Erling Haaland who has managed 11 goals in his opening seven games on the season, averaging 1.72 goals per 90 minutes.
That being said, United have a strong record in recent years against City and despite their city rivals dominating in the league, they have certainly not had it all their own way against United in recent times.
The away fixture at the Ethiad will mark a run of nine games in October for United – their busiest ever October with fixtures against top-four rivals Chelsea and Tottenham to come as well as a punishing Europa League schedule.
Ten Hag will likely have to call on all his resources during the month to keep his players fresh and fringe players may well get their chance to impress during this period.
In the league, ten Hag will likely keep faith with the players that have bounced back so well following the early season defeats. That means Ronaldo, along with the like of Magure, Luke Shaw, Donny van de Beek, Aaron Wan Bissaka and even new signing Casemiro will be relying on minutes during the Europa League fixtures to press their claim for a place in the league starting lineup.
We will also likely see more of the young players who have been training regularly with the first-team squad getting more minutes in October.
Expect the likes of Alejandro Garnacho, Anthony Elanga, Charlie Savage and Zidane Iqbal to get more minutes under the belts and more opportunities to impress ten Hag during this period.
With fixtures piling up in the run-up to the World Cup that starts in November in Qatar, it is likely that united will once again dip into the transfer window in January, especially if they progress in the Europa League and League Cup before the World Cup kicks off.
Injuries to key players before or during the World Cup may also dictate the direction in which ten Hag goes. However, it is likely he already has a list of targets drawn up which is unlikely to change given his meticulous planning and his desire to find the right people to fit with his plans.
January Targets
United had a crazy summer transfer window, seemingly linked just about every player from every major league across the world. These transfer rumours have not stopped since the close of the transfer window and United are already being heavily linked with moves for a number of big-name stars in January.
It seems likely that ten Hag will only assess the needs of his squad post World Cup, here are just a few of the names that have been linked with January moves to United:
- Youri Tielemans (Leicester City)
- Hirving Lozano (Napoli)
- Jan Oblak (Atletico Madrid)
- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund)
- Marco Asensio (Real Madrid)
- Cody Gakpo (PSV Eindhoven)
- Pau Torres (Villareal)
- Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
- Tammy Abraham (AS Roma)
These are just a handful of the world-class players already being linked with United and whilst there may be some truth to the rumours, it is unlikely that many (if any) of these moves will come off in January, with most of these players enjoying successful starts to the season with their respective clubs.
At the start of the season, optimism around Old Trafford was thin on the ground, however, the four wins on the bounce, coupled with the way ten Hag has got United playing as a team, has certainly given room for more optimism that the team can once again challenge for the top four and a place in the Champions League.
Betway Sports currently has United as sixth favourites to make the top four at 2.62 behind Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea, however, much will depend on how they head into the enforced winter break and the potential targets ten Hag can bring in to strengthen the squad in January.
If United do hope to sign some of the stellar names they are being linked with, they need to qualify for the Champions League as a minimum requirement in order to attract these big-name stars or risk falling further behind.
