Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United's forwards were underwhelming last season, but under Erik ten Hag they can look to turn it around.
The 2021/22 campaign was, without a doubt, Manchester United's worst season in recent memory. Towards the back-end of the term, interim manager Ralf Rangnick claimed that United should sign up to 10 new players for the impending rebuild.
While the German's words were supported by the majority of the fanbase, by no means is this expected to happen this summer.
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Even though almost every player had a terrible season, it was not what those players are actually capable of and what they have shown before. It wasn't a surprise to see that new manager Erik ten Hag spoke positively about the players saying: “A year before this team was second in the league, so the potential is there. Learn the lessons from this season, we have to analyse clearly what went wrong.''
The squad was weakened by Anthony Martial's move on loan to Sevilla and the unexpected suspension of Greenwood. It was obvious and necessary to sign replacements even though it was late into the transfer market in January. But the club rejected the requests of former interim manager Ralf Rangnick to sign a striker.
The reasonings were that they didn't want to sign a player without knowing the next manager. Which is sensible and now it looks like the Dutchman wants to see if the current attacking options can rediscover their form.
Last season was Marcus Rashford's worst in terms of goal contributions, he scored just four goals across the campaign.
There were likely many different reasons for his dire form after he returned from injury in October, but both his fitness issues and confidence seemed to be two major factors.
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Being forced to play in a position that he doesn't favour, getting taken off when he starts to show sparks and being totally ignored and mismanaged by Rangnick didn't help his case either.
Returning assistant coach Steve McClaren, who is officially confirmed to be in Ten Hag's coaching staff, spoke on the wingers situation on TalkSPORT.
“There’s that one cornerstone which we call mentality, attitude, which he hasn’t grasped yet." He said. "There are certain tools with which you can come out of bad times, so you play one bad pass and don’t make it two or three.
“You get back to playing simple again. But a player needs to admit first that he’s in the wrong, has a bad attitude and needs help.”
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Jadon Sancho is another who did not play to the expectations last year, but like his England teammate, many aspects contributed to his turbulent campaign.
It was his first ever season in arguably the toughest league in the world, with one of the worst United sides in recent times. The club and the manager's lack of understanding to best utilise Sancho on the right-wing was another reason that he could not replicate his form in the Bundesliga.
United needed a complimentary, expansive attacking right-back whom Sancho can link up well with and create space for him to drive in and out wide to combine with other players. His relationship with Achraf Hakimi in Germany was the blueprint, but United lost the papers, as they tried matching him with Aaron Wan-Bissaka or Diogo Dalot. United did not have their own Hakimi.
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Another aspect which limited Sancho's ability was the lack of outlets within the club whom he can feed. There were times where Cristiano Ronaldo dropped deep and there was neither someone who slots in his position nor a runner which complicated things for him.
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It was no surprise to see Manchester United try to sign the Uruguayan striker Darwin Nuñez this summer. The forward has obvious flaws to his game but being able to attack space, run in behind, and finish well can cause oppositions every kind of problem.
He could've struck a very good combination with Sancho, as he is a player with the same profile as Erling Haaland. Another striker should be a priority in the summer if United are going to look to get the best out of their frontline, but it depends on the market.
Finally, we can't overlook the season that one of the greatest players in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo, had this season. He finished only behind Son Heung-min and Mo Salah for the Golden Boot, scoring 18 goals.
He won the Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year award, and was also included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season. The striker could very well still be the answer for the problem up front for the short term, and Ten Hag is also a big fan of his too, so we can expect him to lead the team starting from August.
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The impressive thing about Jadon Sancho in 2021/22 was that even during a very poor season by his standards, the underlining numbers of his creative display and the threats he created with his ball carrying was still top quality.
The graph below shows that Sancho (to the right of the 'ball carriers' zone) competed with some of Europe's elite in terms of his progressiveness.
The fans have every right to be pessimistic heading into the next season, especially if the club' are not active enough in the transfer window. However, reports seem to suggest that the club will strengthen in a number of key positions.
There are no doubts about Cristiano Ronaldo delivering again next season, but he is going to be one year older, so it will only be wise to have an appropriate backup for him.
While I'm pretty confident that Rashford and Sancho will surprise a lot of the fanbase with a turnaround of their form and consistency.
They haven't been called up for England's games in the UEFA Nations League, and will only have a few months left before the 2022 World Cup after the season begins, that alone can be a huge motivation for the pair to work hard to rediscover their form.
The task of impressing the new exciting manager Erik ten Hag will be another motivating factor.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Manchester United, Football, Cristiano Ronaldo, Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Premier League, Erik Ten Hag