On the pitch it’s been a pretty good preseason - I am confident Ten Hag is an exceptional manager and he has hired fantastic coaches. Having someone like McClaren about (and now Benni!) who has been a manager at the top level is also a fantastic coup, as much as he has been slightly a joke figure in some circles, because there aren’t many teams that have a league winning manager and ex international manager as an assistant coach.
The team is playing some good football and is often on the front foot - more aggressive, more dynamic, fast press. There’s a lot more to come but for a few weeks we are already better at this style than we ever were under Ralf. Theres a clear way of playing too and that gives me confidence that I know what I gonna get with Utd next season. There is a slight concern that not many have played a full 90
OFF the pitch it’s been abysmal - yes, our signings have been good so far but they’ve come in way too late. To only have Malacia on the tour was shocking because we were already so light in squad depth. Now we are in a position where we are going to have to bed Martinez and Eriksen in during the first few weeks. It seems we have missed out on the managers prime targets, De Jong, Antony, Timber, and we face a scramble during August potentially to find back ups to the first two and also we may have to replace Ronaldo, who has brought some some not needed preseason drama. If we do end up with De Jong and Antony, we’re gonna overpay and we are going to have to wait until mid September to see what the manager envisaged at the earliest.
Overall, 6.5 -10 and that’s only off the basis that I think Ten Hag has done everything he can with this squad so far. We need reinforcements though, because otherwise I don’t think we’re good enough, even with his coaching ability, to get 4th.