Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has had a mixed record with his signings for the club so far.
Think back to Erik ten Hag‘s first summer in charge and a few topics spring to mind. The never-ending failed pursuit of Frenkie de Jong, for one.
The impressive free transfer of Christian Eriksen, and the coup to tempt Casemiro away from Real Madrid.
Or perhaps it is the £80 million plus deal to sign Antony, which stands out, for all the wrong reasons.
One way or another, the £13 million deal to sign Tyrell Malacia is probably not the first one which springs to mind.
Tyrell Malacia’s nightmare second season
Tyrell Malacia was actually Erik ten Hag’s first signing at Manchester United. It was an astute move, a young talent signed for a cost-effective price, before the club’s spending spiralled out of control with the Antony deal later in the summer.
Malacia had a solid first season, proving a valuable part of Ten Hag’s squad, consistently impressive aside from one poor 45 minutes at home to Sevilla.
He made 39 appearances in total, competing well with Luke Shaw at left-back, which also enabled the England ace to line up at centre-back.
This season he has not played a single minute, even missing the club’s pre-season tour. Malacia has been dealing with an ongoing knee injury.
Malacia now has to start again
Malacia is working his way back from injury and is in light training at Carrington, however, he is still several weeks away from a return.
Having not even had a pre-season, it could be a while until Erik ten Hag trusts Malacia with meaningful game time and at this rate we might not even see him pull on the club shirt until March.
He has to start all over again to prove himself to his manager and to supporters, having missed a big stretch of the season, and it will be more difficult this time.
Last season he was competing against only Luke Shaw, and game time was easy to come by, with Manchester United battling in four different competitions.
Now, Manchester United are only active in two competitions, so there is a decreased need to rotate, and crucially, there is one extra player he is fighting it out with.
Diogo Dalot is proving he is more than an emergency left-back option, he is a very useful player to have available at the position.
Dalot has played there with regularity this season, managing to impress with goals against Sheffield United and Wigan in the Premier League and FA Cup.
He is building a case that he deserves to be in the XI, whether it is on the right or left, with a reliable fitness record backing up his largely impressive form.
Malacia has a big task ahead of him. When he comes back, like it or not, he will begin as Erik ten Hag’s third choice option at left-back, and it will be up to the Dutchman to prove he deserves to climb up the pecking order.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/9HgyNDp