2 months ago
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ERIK TEN HAG has been left with a mammoth size headache in defence when Manchester United return from the international break.
With no natural left-back to call on this season thanks to setbacks with Luke Shaw and the long-term injury of Tyrell Malacia, Diogo Dalot has filled in.
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APHowever, the defender has gone from one of United’s most reliable players last season at right-back to one of their most suspect at left-back this year.
His side switch came after the club also brought in Noussair Mazraoui, who has been one of the few consistently decent players throughout the season so far playing at right-back.
But with the former Bayern Munich star now a doubt for the Brentford game after undergoing a procedure after he experienced heart palpitations, it leaves Ten Hag with a familiar headache.
This means United now have just one recognised and fit senior full-back in Dalot.
This leaves Ten Hag with two choices.
One, to select another senior star at full-back – possibly Victor Lindelof at right-back or Toby Collyer at left-back – and keep Dalot at left-back, or two, to promote United youngster Harry Amass.
New club chiefs Ineos outlined the Dutchman’s promotion of youth talent as one of their reasons to keep him on, with the development of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho particularly pleasing.
Carrington has been a steady production line for the senior team in recent years, with midfielder Collyer the latest to make their senior debut.
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However, Amass, aged 17, has already been tipped to help the team this season.
The Under-21 left-back impressed when playing with the senior team during pre-season and looked set to be part of the senior squad.
But Amass is yet to even make a Premier League squad this season, instead getting his minutes in the youth team.
While it is important not to place too much pressure on him at a tender age, Amass has already been named in the club’s Europa League squad registration.
The 5ft 9in defender also earned the backing of Shaw, who he has also drawn similarities to in terms of his style of play.
When speaking in June, and asked who he reckons could break into the first team this season, he said: “He’s a young left-back from Man United. Harry Amass.”
The teen proved he had a strong relationship with Marcus Rashford and Amad Diallo in pre-season, and that could make the world of difference to the Red Devils attacking play.
Ten Hag's left-back solutions
Erik ten Hag has tried to answer his left-back riddle with a number of different solutions with Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia sidelined for the majority of last season.
Diogo Dalot proved himself to be useful tucking inside when playing there, but he has struggled more than excelled there.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka was consequently drafted in to swap Dalot around, and generally performed admirably in a more defensive specialist role, which helped United win the FA Cup final last season.
Sofyan Amrabat started out his Man Utd career playing from LB, and his first game showed some promising signs before better opposition quickly saw that idea squashed.
Toby Collyer played there against Barnsley earlier this season. The youngster played well but is a natural midfielder who could easily be caught out if used in the future.
Lisandro Martinez played at LB at times for Ajax, but this role looked painfully alien to him when he played there in the first half against Man City in the Community Shield.
Even Jonny Evans has played there under Ten Hag when trying to defend a lead late on, but at 36 he should not be relied upon to play there, it is wild enough he has been one of the best CBs at the club despite the many millions spent on the position in previous years.
Antony played there briefly last season – kicking up a mighty fuss in the process – but kept a clean sheet in the brief minutes he has there. Some have even argued he has been wasted at right wing and could be retrofitted to play LB or LWB.
Amass himself has said he intends to play first-team football at the club, while Ten Hag also said that he was “not that far away now”.
He has represented England at all youth levels from Under-15 to Under-18, and was named in the most recent squad to face Sweden and one of Ukraine or the Netherlands in Marbella.
Speaking in August, Ten Hag said Amass could be involved in first team matches within three months.
That means in an ideal world Amass would be eased into the first-team in November.
However, injuries and a lack of suitable alternatives could, and arguably should, force Ten Hag’s hand in terms of granting his promotion into the senior ranks.
It was legendary United boss Sir Matt Busby who coined the term: “If you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”
And there is a very real argument to be made that Amass is currently the best option available at left-back to Ten Hag for matches later this month.
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Why NOBODY is the right man to replace Erik ten Hag at Man Utd
SunSport's DAVE KIDD says Erik ten Hag's time at Man Utd is up… and explains what's wrong with all the potential candidates to replace him.
THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.
And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.
If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.
The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.
He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.
None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.
Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.
Emery may well deliver the coup de grace to Ten Hag on Sunday — especially with Bruno Fernandes suspended and Kobbie Mainoo an injury doubt.
And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.
Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.
Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.
Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.
Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.
Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.
Thomas Tuchel would be a popular and gettable option but, despite being a fine coach and a very engaging man, he is considered something of a loose cannon.
Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.
Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.
Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.
Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.
Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.
So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.
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