How Man Utd will line up in 2023-24
Tom Weber
- Updated: 9 Aug 2023 14:41 BST
- 4 min read
Manchester United have been busy in the transfer market and Erik ten Hag has built a team firmly in his image.
Having added Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Andre Onana, the Red Devils will be expected to have a successful season. Here's how the new pieces will fit into Ten Hag's system.
Attack
Antony did not have the desired effect last term following his €95 million move from Ajax and Jadon Sancho has impressed Ten Hag playing as a false nine in pre-season, but it seems unlikely that the Dutchman will completely rejig his frontline.
Lining up in his preferred 4-2-3-1, Ten Hag will likely keep his faith in Antony on the right, while Marcus Rashford likely won't be tasked with playing as a central striker anymore now that Hojlund has been signed. Rashford will revert to his favoured left-wing position, while the Dane will lead the line once he has recovered from his back injury.
Midfield
Similarly, the midfield won't see too much upheaval as Mason Mount will simply replace Christian Eriksen as the more attack-minded of Ten Hag's deeper midfielders. Casemiro will continue to carry out his defensive responsibilities with the same proficiency as he did last season, while Bruno Fernandes will look to produce the goods from his attacking midfield position.
Should Sofyan Amrabat be signed, a few things could be tweaked, but he is not a United player at this moment in time, so there is no point in worrying about that right now.
READ: Man Utd line up THREE players to replace Maguire - Romano
Defence
A lot has been made of Man Utd's defence, but very little has actually changed. Ten Hag will go into the season with the same starting backline that he used for much of last term and even the exit of Harry Maguire and the potential signing of Jean-Clair Todibo or Benjamin Pavard won't change that, though the latter, if signed, may slot in at right-back.
Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane will marshall the backline again, while Luke Shaw and Diogo Dalot will look to provide attacking impetus from out wide.
After David de Gea's exit, new signing Andre Onana will be the new number one between the sticks and Ten Hag will hope that his former Ajax protégé can offer more in build-up than his Spanish predecessor.
