Manchester United return from the international break facing a myriad of on-field questions. Underwhelming performances in their opening four matches left Erik ten Hag’s men sat 11th in the league table, six points behind pace-setters Manchester City. The United manager spoke positively of first-half performances against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, but fans raised concerns about the team’s ability to compete with the country’s best sides.
The deadline day signings of Sergio Reguilon and Sofyan Amrabat have bolstered an uneven squad, but on-pitch matters have been complicated following a falling-out between Ten Hag and Jadon Sancho. The winger is no longer training with the first team as the club look to resolve what they refer to as “a squad discipline issue”. In addition to this, Antony will not be returning to United “until further notice” as he continues to address allegations of assault, which the Brazilian denies.
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The United team that takes on Brighton on September 16 could have a very different Starting XI to the one that lost 3-1 to Arsenal earlier this month.
Rasmus Hojlund’s gradual recovery from a back complaint (he played 76 minutes for Denmark across two matches in the international break) means Ten Hag will likely have a new starter at centre-forward. However, one spot on the right of his 4-2-3-1 is still to be decided.
Allow The Athletic to weigh the pros and cons of the options available to the United manager.
Facundo Pellistri
Signed in the summer of 2020, Facundo Pellistri has had an unusual United career, playing more minutes for Uruguay (853) than United (232 for the senior team; one start). An indifferent loan spell at La Liga minnows Alaves — where he played only 1,201 minutes across one and a half seasons — made it hard to discern if the 21-year-old has any outstanding traits that could carry over into Premier League football.
Does Facundo Pellistri, who played for Uruguay last week, merit a chance? (Photo: Pablo Porcuincula/AFP via Getty Images)
Pellistri’s close-control dribbling and fondness for crossing the ball have some appeal, but it remains to be seen whether he has the requisite decision-making in the final third and physical endeavour to be a starter. While he has impressed in brief attacking spurts, we have little to no idea of Pellistri’s ability to contribute to United’s pressing schemes or understand Ten Hag’s off-ball requirements.
A pre-season injury to Amad means Pellistri is the only specialised right winger available to Ten Hag at this point. Yet Ten Hag appears unconvinced, affording him an hour of league competition last season (60 minutes spread over four Premier League games). Pellistri then spent the summer on a personal training camp in Mexico before United’s pre-season tour, but played just under 20 minutes for United before the international break.
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When asked about the winger’s short cameos in cup competitions last season, Ten Hag contextualised Pellistri’s skills in an interesting manner. To him, Pellistri’s desire to go on the outside and cross the ball looks more impressive because he is surrounded by so many players who wish to cut inside and shoot. The Uruguayan’s variance makes him good, rather than his innate skills.
Pellistri is young and was envisioned as a signing for the future when he arrived in 2020 (he looked very raw playing in the under-23 side in 2020-21). At the very least, this upcoming run of games should see him establish himself as a good Plan B for the right wing.
Bruno Fernandes
Last season saw Ten Hag turn to his matchday captain whenever he needed a plan B for the right-hand side. However, the United manager preferred to use Fernandes on the right as a second-half change (particularly when the team were already winning), rather than as a starting option, as Fernandes remains the club’s best on-ball creator and is most effective when playing as the No 10.
Is Bruno Fernandes, who scored for Portugal last week, wasted on the wing? (Photo: Vladimir Simicek/AFP via Getty Images)
Fernandes’ limited dribbling skills and discomfort when receiving the ball under pressure mean he’s not the best player to beat a full-back in a one-v-one duel. Still, his creative energy and defensive application saw the 29-year-old praised for his work on the wing following the 2-1 victory in the Manchester Derby last season. As we explained here, when Fernandes played on the right, he would direct in-swinging crosses into several United attackers looking to pack the penalty area.
If Ten Hag chooses to play Fernandes on the right against Brighton, the United manager will have to make changes elsewhere to get the best out of the playmaker. If he were to pair Casemiro with Amrabat in central midfield (no guarantee given the Moroccan’s minor back issue), he would have a choice between Christian Eriksen or Scott McTominay as the No 10.
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Eriksen, who has played most of his career as a No 10 (and started the same 2-1 win in the Derby playing centrally) would offer a level of passing creativity that would be helpful to Amrabat and others, leaving Fernandes to focus on newer duties on the right. However, the Dane is not the most defensively-minded player and is known for fatiguing early in games.
Should McTominay be given the No 10 role, he could bring a level of physicality and defensive energy that Eriksen lacks, along with third-man runs into the penalty area to connect with crosses from Fernandes. It’s a role that McTominay has success in for Scotland, but it asks a lot of passers elsewhere to compensate for the Scotsman’s weaknesses. (This is also why we’ll not include McTominay as a right-sided option on this shortlist.)
Fernandes on the right works best for United’s most immediate fixture, but Ten Hag may want to play his most important player in their best position for matches down the line.
Mason Mount
There is a remote chance that Mason Mount will be available for United’s league fixture against Brighton, but the 24-year-old is targeting a full return from injury in the Champions League group-stage opener against Bayern on 20 September.
Mason Mount is yet to properly make his mark at United (Photo: Gareth Copley via Getty Images)
A fit Mount, coupled with the arrival of Amrabat, gives Ten Hag two new options:
- Play the English midfielder as the 10 and move Fernandes to the right.
- Keep Fernandes as the 10 and play Mount on the right.
Mount as the No 10 would offer the same benefits Eriksen brings to the role, along with additional defensive endeavour. (Albeit with the same weaknesses Fernandes has when taking on a full-back.)
The Athletic would like to make the case that Mount is the most compelling option on the right once fit. Ten Hag’s £55million ($68.3m) signing would offer some of the same as Fernandes from out wide, attacking open spaces and looking to cross the ball to other members of United’s front three (albeit Mount’s crossing is not to the same level as his captain). His clever match-reading should see him find pockets of open space down the right, and his off-ball intelligence and application when pressing could make United a more robust team when out of possession.
Mount made eight starts for Chelsea’s senior team across five seasons at the club, attacking the half-space and serving as an auxiliary playmaker. He is best when doing this from the left (as evidenced in the 2021 Champions League Final and during his travails with England), but a version of this play can be translated to the right.*
Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford has played across United’s front three during his previous eight seasons at the club, with varying levels of success. This season the 25-year-old started United’s first two games at centre-forward with limited success, only for Ten Hag to restore him to his favoured position on the left against Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. Two goals, an assist, and a run that led to a penalty suggest Rashford will be better off on the left of Ten Hag’s 4-2-3-1 where he can focus on what he is best at.
Marcus Rashford played on the left in England’s 3-1 win against Scotland on Tuesday (Photo: Stu Forster via Getty Images)
While Rashford can be useful on the right, it means he is focusing on crossing the ball for others rather than his typical technique of cutting inside from the left and shooting.
This summer he explained to Gary Neville the difficulty of switching flanks: “(It’s because of) the angles of making the run in behind, because most of my game is running in behind to stretch defences, to give space to some of the other players, but the angles of the runs, sometimes I feel like I run too far inside and then I run back that way to get the ball. Whereas on the left it’s just natural and it feels more normal.”
Considering how many other components of the starting XI are currently in flux, Ten Hag may decide to leave Rashford on the left, where he is most dangerous, and give the right-sided role to others.
Alejandro Garnacho
A dynamic ball carrier and goalscorer with a fondness for cutting inside from the left, any experimentation with Alejandro Garnacho on the opposite flank is likely to run into the same problems Rashford faces there.
Garnacho has experienced a choppy 2023-24 season so far. His effectiveness on the left was reduced in the first game against Wolverhampton Wanderers due to Ten Hag’s decision to have Luke Shaw invert and form a box midfield. He was a more significant attacking threat in the first half against Spurs once Shaw again offered overlapping runs, giving the 19-year-old an easy out-ball in the final third and a way to disrupt Spurs’ defensive shape when he wanted to cut inside and shoot.
Alejandro Garnacho celebrates with Lionel Messi on international duty last week (Photo: Juan Mabromata/AFP via Getty Images)
Garnacho was one of many United players who had a disappointing second half against Spurs once Ange Postecoglou’s team began to play wider and stretch the pressing attempts from United’s front three. The young Argentine was an unused substitute against Nottingham Forest before scoring an offside goal against Arsenal that could have turned the tide of the game.
Ten Hag certainly sees Garnacho as an impressive option to come off the bench, but the forward might not yet have the consistency to be a starting option for United.
Multiple trials of Rashford on the right disrupted the Englishman’s attacking rhythm. The United manager may decide it best to allow Garnacho time to develop on the left rather than add new responsibilities for him on the opposite flank.
Anything else to consider?
That asterisk we left when describing Mount’s play on the right is explained here.
** *Anyone playing at right-wing for United will be affected by their options at right-back.**
Neither Aaron Wan-Bissaka nor Diogo Dalot offer the attacking endeavour down the right flank that would allow any player on our shortlist (as well as Sancho) to perform at their best.
While Wan-Bissaka is a superb 1v1 defender against wingers and has improved his defending against crosses directed towards the back post, he prefers to make underlapping runs when getting forward, often exchanging 1-2 passes with the likes of Casemiro and Fernandes to get past opposition players.
Last season saw Dalot fashion himself into a full-back best at inverting into central midfield from deeper areas, or crossing (in an inconsistent manner) from the right half-space in the final third. The Portuguese defender has a fluid place in United’s starting XI; a six-out-of-10 in much of what coaches ask for from a modern full-back, he was previously thought to be Ten Hag’s preferred right-back but has encountered streaks of poor form, allowing Wan-Bissaka back into the picture.
Any player chosen by Ten Hag to play on the right would be improved by a right-back who could offer the sort of overlapping runs and sensible ball progression that Shaw, still injured, offers from the left.
The United manager has a squad full of narrative loose ends at a time when he would like to have things tied into pleasing knots. There’s no immediate plug-and-play solution to the club’s issues on the right. Ten Hag will have to get experimental.
(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
