Marcel Sabitzer’s season at Man Utd has come to an end after a knee injury and the absence of the Belgian star is bringing a conundrum for Erik ten Hag.
With Scott McTominay also sidelined, the Dutch strategist is left with only Fred as a possible choice in the midfield.
Fred is the only option Ten Hag has on the bench.
The 30-year-old player is highly rated, he ranks second in the list of Red Devils midfielders only after the pair of Casemiro and Eriksen. Only Bruno Fernandes, David de Gea and Marcus Rashford have played more games than Fred (52 games this season).
If anyone in the trio of Casemiro, Eriksen and Fernandes has problems, Fred can come on. The Samba star shows an abundance of energy, but is quite precarious in situations where he holds the ball.
Casemiro is in decline.
Meanwhile, the top two picks – Casemiro and Eriksen are both in a period of decline. Casemiro has yet to find the level of performances since returning from the last suspension, and Eriksen also shows problems when the time out of injury treatment lasts quite a long time.
The recent difficulties that Man Utd have encountered partly stem from the midfield. They don’t move the ball as well as in the first half of the season and if Ten Hag has changes available, surely the 53-year-old strategist will make them.
Casemiro has started nine consecutive games since returning from suspension and Eriksen has started seven of eight since returning to the team following an ankle injury. The match where the former midfielder Brentford did not start, the 0-1 loss to Brighton, Fred came on but nothing really changed.
Ten Hag needs more options for midfield.
With their current form, Man Utd faces a big threat in the race to qualify for the Champions League, when Liverpool and even Brighton are trying to catch up. Besides, it is also necessary to mention the upcoming FA Cup final.
Manchester City are in their best form at the end of the season. Their midfield trio Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne all put on impressive performances.
In addition, the noisy ‘Neighborhood’ also has a versatile Bernardo Silva, ready to fill the void left by one of the three names mentioned above. As for Man Utd, if Casemiro and Eriksen continue to decline, they will definitely have trouble against The Citizens.
Therefore, when this year’s season ends, Man Utd will need to upgrade the quality of the midfield. The top priority right now is to find young, potential names to create long-term stability in this area.
British media said that the Red Devils are targeting Moises Caicedo or Mason Mount, this may be a possible option to help Ten Hag have more quality options to change the midfield situation.
Truong Son | 22:27 May 16, 2023
