Gary Lineker has insisted that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is “very difficult” to buy players for and questioned the transfer made at the club.
Erik ten Hag has seen an overhaul of the Manchester United first-team squad with several new signings since his arrival from Dutch side Ajax in 2022.
The 54-year-old Dutchman has been reunited with several ex-Ajax players, including the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Andre Onana and Antony.
Ten Hag watched his first-team squad receive an additional boost in key positions in the first summer transfer window under Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Among the new summer signings were Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee from Serie A side Bologna and French defender Leny Yoro from Ligue 1 outfit Lille in July.
Manuel Ugarte was linked with United in the summer and the Uruguayan midfielder completed a deadline-day move after he was signed from Paris Saint-Germain.
Lineker on Ten Hag and transfers
Erik ten Hag has overseen a turbulent start to the 2024-25 campaign with Manchester United, despite the arrival of several summer signings.
United are 14th in the Premier League table and the Red Devils have won only two of their opening seven league matches ahead of the October international break.
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Gary Lineker is convinced that Ten Hag is “very difficult to buy a player” for due to the different styles of play he implements.
“I think it’s very difficult to buy a player for Erik ten Hag because he plays a different system all the time,” he said.
“Sometimes they’re counter-attacking, sometimes they’ll play a little bit of a high press, sometimes they won’t.
“We’ve said it many times on here, ‘What is their style of football? What is their identity?’ I don’t think you have that.
“Now if you were buying for, let’s say, Ange Postecoglou [Tottenham manager] or Brighton who do really well, or Brentford or someone like that, those kind of clubs… or Manchester City…
“They have a way of playing that very rarely varies, they don’t go from being a counter-attacking team for three weeks and then being a team on the front foot for three weeks.”
Lineker on Man Utd signing under Ten Hag
Lineker admitted that he remained unconvinced by the different signings made by Ten Hag because he can’t answer what “type of player” is associated with him.
However, The Rest Is Football co-host insisted that the only Ten Hag signing that is not questionable is United striker Rasmus Hojlund.
Rasmus Hojlund is now in his second season at Old Trafford after he was signed from Serie A side Atalanta in a deal worth £72m in 2023.
Lineker revealed that the 21-year-old Danish forward is the “obvious” pick due to him playing in one fixed position in any of Ten Hag’s different styles of play.
“But you tell me, what is Erik ten Hag’s type of player? Can you answer that? I can’t,” he continued.
“So, I think primarily that is the problem. And I think that’s been the case for some time, and previous managers.
“We know they’ve had problems at the top of the club and that filters down, and all that sort of stuff, and it does, and it’s been difficult for any manager.
“But I think it’s exacerbated at the moment by the lack of a style and the lack of identity of the actual playing side of things.
“Therefore, they just seem to buy ad hoc. You know, ‘I had him at Ajax and he was really good there,’ I’m sure he was! Any of those players that he’s bought from there. But where do they fit in?
“Someone like [Rasmus] Hojlund, yeah, that was obvious, he’s a striker, you’ve got to have a striker.
“But in other positions, in other areas, if you play a slightly different system every week, how do you know what you’re buying for? So, I think that’s probably what’s happened.”
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/M7YcjmX