Erik ten Hag makes remarkable claim about his team selection in 2023/24 season, it all makes sense now

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For the first time since Manchester United were humming along under Erik ten Hag in his first season, it looks like there’s a sense of plan in place.

The draw against Crystal Palace was less than what the performance merited and the players coming back from injury paint a rosy picture for the future.

Of course, Manchester United always deals in extremes where every win means perfection and every loss means doom, but taking a step back and analysing things, there are clear signs of upward movement.

Especially so from last season, when every matchday seemed like a wait for the next humiliation as a freak injury nightmare completely derailed the season salvaged only on the last day with the FA Cup win.

Now, Erik ten Hag has made a remarkable claim about that forgettable season which makes everything ‘make sense’.

Erik ten Hag’s shock 2023/24 claim

The manager has been a happy camper this season mostly because the injury situation looks much improved, although the bar wasn’t so high after last season!

Still, Ten Hag has been in a position to have ‘nice headaches’ when it comes to choosing who plays which game, even though he has had to hit back at sensationalist pundits trying to find stories in his selection.

Team selection at Old Trafford will always be a highly-scrutinised matter so Ten Hag’s claim about his selection in 2023/24 really paints a startling picture.

The manager spoke to UEFA’s official website ahead of the start of their Europa League campaign and talked about the difficulty of last season.

He said the constant injuries disrupted the rhythm of the team, and he was only able to field his ideal lineup two times the whole season.

He said: “It was a difficult season in which we suffered many injuries, fell behind [in the league] and never found our rhythm because we had to make so many changes. I think we only played with the line-up we had in mind twice during the whole season.”

The manager also expanded upon his style of play, a question that has haunted him since he began at the club. He spoke about his inspiration in the game and what he wants to see from his team.

He said: “We want to play proactively, dynamically. We want to be the dominant team. That’s what you try to do in every game. From every angle of the game.

“There were several [influences on my style] but, way back, it was Rinus Michels and Kees Rijvers. Rinus Michels had a big impact on Dutch football, in the proactive style of football. Johan Cruyff as a player, of course, and then as a coach. Later on, Louis van Gaal, they all had a huge influence on Dutch proactive, dynamic football.”

Ten Hag’s stress on patterns

Barely a press conference goes by without Ten Hag stressing the importance of routines and patterns of play that come only when players play together.

United spent pretty much the whole of last season without a natural left-back and the centre-back partnership kept changing too.

That doesn’t allow for patterns and routines to get established which inevitably leads to systemic issues and individual mistakes.

It could be seen early in this season too but the performances since have become more and more cohesive with every game.

Looking through that lens, it is no surprise that United struggled for any fluency and rhythm last season. Fans and the club can only hope that it was a one-off and the situation keeps improving now because the ceiling of this team, if fully fit, is clearly very high.