Manchester United is one of England’s most popular football teams. The team is ranked 6th for the 2022/23 season, trailing just behind Arsenal. Manchester United’s new manager Erik Ten Hag has a lot of work to do, in order to improve the team for this year’s Premier League. The season begins on the 9th of August, which means it is only weeks away from entering pre-season. During the pre-season stage of the competition, Erik Ten Hag will have the opportunity to implement and oversee changes, improving the team’s performance.

This post will suggest nine things that Erik Ten Hag should improve in this year’s pre-season:

New Transfers

A lot of the team’s biggest fans agree that in order for the team to improve this season, new players are needed. There has been some speculation in the media that the team already has a few new players lined up. Manchester United is very popular among sports bettors because they have a history of delivering desirable game results. Because of this, Manchester United is a fixture in international sports betting, like Indonesian judi bola, for example. However, because of the team’s poor performance last season, new signings could be necessary in order to appease fans who rely on the game to make money. Introducing new players to the team could improve their performance and therefore win fans money, domestically and abroad. 

Team Mentality

Many sports commentators have said that Manchester United’s performance as of late has been poor because of the team’s mentality. If Ten Hag is to turn the team around and increase their position in the rankings, then he will need to begin by working on improving team morale and mentality. One way that a lot of fans think that Ten Hag can improve the team’s mentality is by introducing new, promising players, who can change the team’s dynamic and consequently its performance.

Intense Training

It is always difficult to suggest intense training as a method of improving a team’s performance because the training that is already held is often intense enough. If Ten Hag wants to turn Manchester United around this season, then he could consider introducing new methods and forms of training, in addition to hiring new coaching staff to help the team to improve and hone their skills. Since Neil Wood left last month, there has been a coaching reshuffle. The team also needs to work together better. Last month, training was terminated early because two senior footballers were fighting each other. If the team cannot work together well in training, then they will surely perform poorly on the pitch.

Team Discipline

Following on from the last point made in the previous section, Rio Ferdinand recently commented that if the team is to turn themselves around this season, then they will need to become more disciplined. He said that the reason the team was performing badly, was because members of the team are not sticking together, and are acting as individuals, rather than as members of a team. This is usually because players have a desire to be recognised for their individual talent, so make bad decisions thinking that it will help them to achieve recognition. More discipline is required, on the pitch, and as referenced previously, in the training room.

Player Positions

A reshuffle of player positions is also something that’s worth considering. A lot of the team’s most die-hard fans are in agreement that the team’s set-up is not working very well. Last season, for example, Pogba was played in the wrong position. Fans are concerned that poor judgment over player placement will continue into this season, too. If Ten Hag wants to improve things this year, then he will need to reshuffle the team, which he can do during pre-season, and trial during the pre-season friendlies.

Manager’s Philosophy

A lot of fans believe that the reason Manchester United has been performing poorly is because of the people that are behind the scenes. Some think that the best way to turn the team’s performance around is to follow the manager’s philosophy, rather than the strategies outlined behind closed doors. Ten Hag is a former professional footballer himself, so it’s highly likely that if he is given the ability to drive the team forward with his own philosophy and skills, then the team will be able to turn around and have more wins this year.

Individual Egos

Touching back on a point that was made earlier on, regarding the team’s individualistic nature (rather than focus on teamwork), if Ten Hag wants things to change, then he needs to speak to the team’s players individually and get them to drop their egos. A football team that’s filled with egotistical players will never perform well because everybody will be trying to outdo each other. Simply by virtue of their being a fight during training, it is a strong sign that egos are clashing. If Ten Hag can root out this egotistical nature, then the team may be able to salvage it and get themselves back into the number one spot.

Manager Development

Every manager needs time to develop and hone their skills. In pre-season (and beyond), it is very important that Ten Hag takes his time. The team’s fans can be very impatient sometimes. It might take Ten Hag a while to find his footing and to be able to turn things around. If fans do not understand and appreciate this, then they could put a lot of pressure on him. While he is learning and developing as a manager, he should also rebuild the team and work toward restoring it to its former glory.

Wage Budget

One thing that he might want to consider is halving the wage budget for new sign-ups. This is because by lowering the wage budget, the team will attract younger players, who can develop and grow as footballers and help Manchester United to achieve success. If the wage budget is not halved, then new signings are likely to be experienced players, that will retire soon after joining the team. Whether or not this will work does depend on the talent pool that Ten Hag has to draw from.

Manchester United is a team that’s adored by fans from all around the world. All of these fans are hoping that this year’s Premier League will see the team turn it around. With only weeks to go until the season begins, Erik Ten Hag has his work cut out for him.