His current club, Ajax, play an attacking brand of football, with the team benefitting from the fluid movement of their players.
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Manchester United are set to start a new era under Erik ten Hag’s management next season. The 52-year-old has finalised a deal with the Premier League club to become their next permanent manager. However, ten Hag will only join the Old Trafford club from the next campaign due to his commitments with Dutch giants Ajax. His current club is leading the pack in the Eredivisie with 75 points from 30 games. Ajax have a four-point cushion over second-placed PSV Eindhoven with four games to go. Ten Hag would be keen to end his time with the Dutch side on a positive note before making a switch to Manchester.
He got the attention of the world during his managerial days with his current club. Ajax play an attacking style of football, with the team impressively retaining the possession of the ball before putting it to good use through the fluid movement of their players. They are also a pressing machine, which makes it difficult for opponents to keep hold of the ball. In 2019, he famously guided Ajax to the Champions League semifinal. On the way to the last four, they had beaten then defending champions Real Madrid in the last-16 and Juventus in the quarterfinals. During his time with the Dutch club, ten Hag has used different formations to get the job done.
Let us have a look at the possible formations Erik ten Hag might use with Manchester United next season:
In his early coaching career, the 52-year-old used to deploy the 4-4-2 formation with the midfield having a diamond setup. Manchester United have the experience of using this formation in the past through Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last season. Prior to that, former manager Louis van Gaal has occasionally set his team in this style during his first season with the club. This allows the team to stack up the midfield with an extra player and play with two strikers at the same time.
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However, this formation would require the full-backs to contribute a lot in attack, as they would be tasked with providing most of the team’s width. It means Diogo Dalot and Alex Telles would need to surge forward a lot to stretch the opposition’s defence. One good thing is that this would allow Cristiano Ronaldo to have a partner up front, which the Portuguese would love to have. However, this is a formation neither the Red Devils nor ten Hag has been using a lot lately, meaning the likelihood of United playing this formation is minimal.
This is one of the most common formations one can see in football. This setup allows the team to have a sufficient number of players in every position from defence to attack. In this formation, a team can make the pitch narrow or stretch it as wide as possible. The midfielders stay a bit closer to each other, allowing the side to maintain a compact shape.
The wingers could hold the width or sit alongside the striker to increase the numbers in the penalty box. However, if they play too narrow then the full-backs need to provide the width by making regular forward runs. Interim manager Ralf Rangnick has used this system on a few occasions. The holding midfielder will be supported by two other midfielders who sit on either side of him. The wingers often hold the width but when they tuck inside, the full-backs race forward on the flanks to support the attack.
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This is the formation Erik ten Hag’s current Ajax side deploys. It is also one of the most familiar formations any Manchester United fan would have witnessed down the years. The Red Devils have played in this set-up for a long time. Starting with legendary former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, United have used this system under almost every coach who has followed him at Old Trafford till now.
Safe to say that this is the most familiar formation for the current crop of players. 4-2-3-1 allows United to have two holding midfielders, one out and out attacking midfielder, which is currently occupied by Bruno Fernandes. The two wingers can either sit alongside the centre-forward in attack and can come back and take the positions alongside the midfielders while defending. There is a possibility we might see ten Hag using this formation on numerous occasions next season.
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