What Looks Like Success For Manchester United In 2022/23?

Manchester United kick their 2022/23 season off next weekend with a home PremierPINC
League match against Brighton & Hove Albion.

Majority of fans are pessimistic going into the campaign given what happened last season, but there are others who have seen a level of improvement being made over the summer and are quietly confident of competing for a top four finish.

The season ahead will provide many twists and turns as it usually does, but Manchester United’s goals should be consistent througout.

What would shape would success come in for the season ahead?

Synergy In The Group

It was a campaign to forget last year under the managers of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer until Christmas, and Ralf Rangnick thereafter.

As results took a nose dive, it was clear that more and more leaks were coming out of the dressing room with players expressing their unhappiness.

Erik Ten Hag has laid it down early on in pre-season that those types of games will not occur under his management reign. The Dutch coach will steer a very tight ship on media coverage and interview requests, as he had done in Australia with his first-team players and also staff members.

Manchester United’s players look more comfortable and happier with one another in the early days of Ten Hag’s tenure, but they need to keep it consistent throughout the season and rally around each other more when the going gets tough.

Fans of the Red Devils have had a hard time supporting this group of players, so it is essential that the squad starts to win back the hearts of those supporters.

A Cup Win

Whether it is the Europa League or Carabao Cup, Manchester United need to end the season with some form of silverware.

It has been five years since the Red Devils’ last cup win, coming in the form of the Europa League under Jose Mourinho.

Since then, Solskjaer managed to take his crop of players to the final of the same competition, narrowly losing out to Unai Emery’s Villarreal on penalties.

A push for the Premier League is several years off with no one kidding themselves otherwise, but a domestic or continental cup win should be on the agenda and within grasp under Ten Hag.

Manchester United need to get back to winning ways from the off with the Dutch manager.

Implementing An Attractive Style Of Play

Perhaps the most important of all that will have a positive knock on effect moving forward is Manchester United’s style of play.

At too many times last season were the Red Devils camped out in their own half, inviting pressure from the opposition and inevitably crumbling.

Ten Hag has shown in a short space of time that his Man United side will be on the front foot and pressing with high intensity.

In the tour to Australia, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, as the two centre backs, were steering the defensive unit just after the halfway line – a clear indiciation that they want to play high up and are not afraid of runners in behind.

While there will be some games Manchester United have to concede possession to and become more defensive, it is important that Ten Hag sets the tone early on in the new campaign that his team are ready and willing to take the game to them. It is the easiest way to get fans back on side and supporting his players.