‘Time’ has been one of Erik ten Hag’s operative words this season.
The Manchester United manager has asked for patience in a number of recent press conferences, explaining that his side will need additional time to come together and reach full strength. A summer containing two international tournaments, a pre-season tour and a hectic transfer window created a situation which — in Ten Hag’s eyes — means players will have to build their match fitness as the season develops.
It will therefore take time to get a true grasp of how good Manchester United can be in 2024-25. So much so that it took 30 minutes for the club’s players to realise they were more than capable of beating Southampton on Saturday.
The early kick-off following the international break has been a banana skin for more than one Premier League manager and Russell Martin looked to have confused Ten Hag’s men in the first half at St Mary’s. After using a 3-5-2 in the opening three matches, the Southampton manager looked to match United’s 4-2-3-1 shape and press their opponents high up the field.
The plan worked for almost half an hour; Southampton were in the ascendancy, dominating possession and causing problems for both Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui out wide. A foul from Dalot on Tyler Dibling saw referee Stuart Attwell award a penalty to Southampton and an opportunity to heap yet more pressure on United. Fortunately, Andre Onana was more than a match for Cameron Archer’s timid spot kick and the momentum swung decisively in United’s favour.
Ten Hag’s team are a curious work in progress. The Dutchman has gone from wanting to create the best transition team in the world, to claiming he has a young team that is in a transitional period and needs to build. He made several tactical changes against Southampton, partnering Christian Eriksen with Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield and tasking both Dalot and Mazraoui to invert into central areas to help with ball progression.
It felt like an attempt to offer multiple passing angles from deep to help break down Southampton’s defensive, but also a response to Arne Slot’s comments after the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool.
Ten Hag looked to get more bodies into central areas to help the side in both defence and attack. After Onana’s penalty save, those extra numbers and United’s superior quality began to tell. United were better than their opponents and played like it for the remainder of the game. Two short corner-kick routines kickstarted moves that ended in goals for Matthijs de Ligt and Marcus Rashford. Southampton failed to muster a single shot on Onana’s goal in the second half, such was the quality of Ten Hag’s men in that period. Alejandro Garnacho added gloss to the performance late in the match, capping off a fine team move started by a long pass from Casemiro (a second-half substitute, playing at centre-back).
“We have to win every game and we did today,” said Ten Hag at full time. “Sometimes you have to find a way to win. In the first minutes of the game, we had some problems but after Andre stopped the penalty and the goal by Matthjis de Ligt, the game was all ours.”
For 30 minutes United looked timid and lethargic. For the 60 minutes after that, they played with control and calmness. Ten Hag’s men are still finding their feet in 2024-25, but green shoots can be found. There are minor injury worries over De Ligt, Lisandro Martinez and others, but a 3-0 win has provided some course correction after things looked at risk of spinning out of control.
Rashford’s 12-game goal drought has ended. Players are beginning to show glimpses of the match sharpness and team chemistry that will form the backbone for the rest of the season. Amad Diallo enjoyed gliding past more than one defender on Saturday and Joshua Zirkzee connected play with his typical nonchalant brilliance. There are more goals to come from this United team, from multiple areas of the pitch. If Ten Hag can find a way to play Zirkzee in the same XI as Rasmus Hojlund, he might create a frontline with serious creative and destructive qualities.
Manuel Ugarte was afforded a 17-minute appearance, winning the ball twice and spending the game’s final moments urging his centre-backs to be more ambitious in their passing. After thirty minutes of worry, Saturday turned out a good day to be a Manchester United fan. Tuesday’s Carabao Cup fixture against Barnsley will provide another opportunity, and next Saturday’s match-up against Tottenham Hotspur will serve as another important test of the side’s top-four credentials. United remain a work in progress but there were enough signs against Southampton that progress is indeed being made. Ten Hag’s side will play six more fixtures between now and the next international break in October, and by then we will have a better sense of what United are capable of.
There will be many stronger tests in 2024-25 than the newly promoted Southampton, but United did well to avoid a penalty-powered slip-up. Cristiano Ronaldo and Ten Hag may not have seen eye-to-eye, but both parties are in agreement; the club is indeed in need of a rebuild.
Things will take time to get better, but the United manager will hope that some more victories of this ilk in the near future will allow him the time to work on foundations for the future.
(Header photo: Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images)
