With the transfer window now closed, all attention turns back to Erik ten Hag and how Manchester United perform against Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Ineos have ticked every box during their first summer window at the club with five new signings arriving to reinforce Erik ten Hag‘s squad.
The transfer deadline has now passed and huge pressure is on Ten Hag to deliver with a new-look squad.
After losing to Brighton last weekend, United now face a huge test against Liverpool at Old Trafford and question marks will be asked of Ten Hag if the performance is below par.
There has been a lot of criticism towards United’s style of play under Ten Hag, but with personnel now added to his squad that fit his system, now is the Dutchman’s time to prove his critics wrong.
New signings Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee are expected to be fit and available for Sunday’s clash, and Gary Neville suggests Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada will be keeping a close eye on how Ten Hag’s side play against Liverpool after the summer investment.
Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada want to see change
The first steps taken by Ineos after United’s takeover was sweeping changes behind the scenes with Omar Berrada appointed as CEO.
A deal with Newcastle United for Dan Ashworth was also agreed towards the end of last season, and United’s new sporting director has proven to be a bargain.
United backed Ten Hag to continue as manager this season despite underwhelming results last campaign, but the Dutchman is still under intense scrutiny.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Neville has suggested that Ashworth and Berrada will want to see a clear style of play implemented against Liverpool.
“We’ve been talking about it for a couple of weeks, obviously he’s been without a centre-forward, I think it’s hard to play football without a centre-forward,” said Neville.
After Daniel Sturridge pointed out that Zirkzee is available, Neville replied “I know but he’s obviously not played a lot of football over the summer so he’s been bringing him on at 45 and 60 minutes.
“It’ll be interesting to see if Zirkzee plays today. I think what they’ll want to see here – you think about the CEO from Man City and Dan Ashworth – they’ll want to see a style of play and a way of playing and a pattern established.
“And that’s not what we’ve seen in the first two years or so under Erik ten Hag. Even in the first couple of games, changing the back four during the game, changing the system during the game, bringing the centre-forward on during the game.
“So that’s three things that he’s done in the first two matches to correct his initial team shape. I think we’ve got to get away from that so there’s a bit of stability.”
Erik ten Hag will have to make brave changes
After a strong summer of investment, Ten Hag now needs to take the step which sees United go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the country.
United have been able to compete through counter-attacking football, but he now has a squad which can control games and put any team under pressure.
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However, that will take time to gel and perfect and United are still waiting for Leny Yoro and Manuel Ugarte to be available.
But against Liverpool, it’s important that fans can see signs of what the club is working toward.
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