Shopping for Ten Hag: The Bargain Bin - Part 2, Right Back
During the summer The Athletic’s Carl Anka, Mark Carey, and Maram AlBaharna wrote a series of pieces entitled “Shopping for Ten-Hag” where they looked at positions that the new Manchester United manager may have wanted to strengthen before the 2022-23 season. They would then explore how Ten Hag had previously used players in that position, before recommending some who could serve a purpose for United in the future.
This series functions much like The Athletic’s “Shopping for Ten Hag” series but with less of a focus on how the manager has previously used players in that position, less graphics (I’ve been attempting to make them with different stuff since the last piece, still hurts my brain), and less professionalism all round.
One change from Part 1 to be aware of is that this series will now not just be focusing on the January transfer window, but on the summer window too, should the Glazers not be able to sell the club by then. Even if the Glazers sell up and Manchester United have ownership that are capable and willing to splash the cash by the summer, these players should be a major point of focus.
This change also came about after the signing of Wout Weghorst on loan revealed that United may not have the expected figure of around £20m to spend this window, it seems that there is now just below £10m available (not counting what was spent already on Weghorst)
Part 1 focused on Centre Forwards
Here in Part 2 we’re getting Right Back to it.
Diogo Dalot has excelled under Ten Hag. Right-back was a serious problem position coming into this season, and was featured on The Athletic’s original version of this list as a position of need for United, who were subsequently linked with moves for the Dutch defenders, Denzel Dumfries of Inter and Jurrien Timber of Ajax. But Diogo Dalot has made the starting spot his own. Competition was hardly rife given Wan-Bissaka’s offensive shortcomings, but Dalot has thrived down the right flank. United have, in recent years, tended to attack more often down their left side – 42% of their attacks go down their left flank compared to just 31%, the lowest in the Premier League this season, down their right flank – but Dalot makes the most of his opportunities to get forward. He ranks in the Top 5 in Shot Creating Actions for the club in the league this season. It’s also important to take into acount that he’s missed 4 of their last 5 league games (at the time of writing) too through injury and suspension.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Dalot at United and one that nearly had a premature end. José Mourinho signed him from Porto in 2018 for £19m. Mourinho had labelled Dalot as "the best full-back in Europe in his age group”. Dalot enjoyed more opportunities towards the end of last season under Ralf Rangnick and showed positive signs that he could be the attacking outlet United need at right-back.
He has also improved the defensive side of his game, which he credits to his time in Italy.
“If I’m a better defender, I owe it to Milan. Italian football is different from the Premier League. I had to adapt in just one year and playing in Serie A has helped me a lot.”
He is being dribbled past just 0.73 times per 90, ranking in the 90th percentile in both Interceptions (1.52 per 90) and Shots Blocked (0.52), and in the 92nd percentile in Tackles Won (1.76).
With the way the modern game is now played, full backs are crucial to any team’s possession and attacking prowess. Dalot appears to accept the pressure and makes himself widely available, whether that is on the overlap or coming inside and acting as another midfielder – similar to what his compatriot João Cancelo has done on the other side of Manchester.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been another Red who seems to be reborn under the tutelage and guidance of Erik ten Hag’s coaching team. The manager was forced to start Wan-Bissaka following an injury Dalot suffered at the World Cup, a lack of centre back options forcing Luke Shaw into the middle, meaning Tyrell Malacia could not take up the position as he had in the Fulham game just before the World Cup break. Wan-Bissaka has grabbed this opportunity much like Dalot did after Rangnick became boss last season, and while Dalot is still the clear starter when fit, Aaron’s future with United — which looked wholly unlikely back in November — seems to have been given a serious boost, especially when you look at how well he played against Manchester City recently. He still needs major improvement on his crosses, but the 25-year-old looks set to stick around for the near future at the very least.
Having players present in the form of a highly valued starter, as well as a much-improved backup means that United can afford to look to the future with any possible signing in this position. At the same time, United need to be able to rely on whatever Right Back they sign to be able to cover minutes regularly should Dalot or Wan-Bissaka, or both be absent at any point.
So with all that information, here’s three players that Manchester United should be looking at:
Malo Gusto - Olympique Lyonnais
If you were to read just a small portion of the articles about Malo Gusto that I have read in preparation for this piece, you would believe him to be the impossible French lovechild of Cafu, Maicon, and Javier Zanetti. Facts are, the young man has serious potential, but without good coaching, patience and guidance his career will fade out without ever truly bursting, like a dud firework.
Gusto is now an embedded member of the Lyon side and has, unsurprisingly, caught the attention of richer clubs across the top-five league spectrum. After making brief cameos in the 2020/21 season, the 2021/22 season was a fruitful one for Gusto. He ended it with a very healthy 25.8 90s under his belt.
What stands out about Malo Gusto’s in-possession game is that he’s clearly a team player. In a 4-3-3 system, he’s often a very deep holding player, which is in keeping with recent tactical trends regarding full-backs and how they attack. Gusto is also a very willing receiver. Barring some minor inconsistencies, he’s comfortable opening his body up to the wide angles under pressure, knows when a first touch back into space is necessary to withstand that pressure, adjusts easily to awkward passes and effortlessly takes down deep switches.
He can centre himself over the ball nicely in order to shape either way, regardless of intent, and has a good knack for using his weaker foot to unexpectedly initiate bursts of pace to the outside. His technical ability also isn’t too bad, as he’s still very willing to use both feet to navigate trickier paths towards the space inside the midfield, but sometimes an overuse of his weaker foot can lead to a costly lack of precision.
The best and most consistent way for him to progress the ball is through passing and moving. He does it naturally to rotate in wide triangles but also instigates short forward runs a lot better when he can substitute a take-on for a short pass. He is not without his faults though. His awareness of what’s on for him in front is often very skewed towards the flank, so he regularly misses opportunities to slip balls into the middle when openings arise. Even if he knows where he wants to play the ball, it isn’t a given that his pass will be accurate, correctly weighted, or even correctly picked. There are good passes he attempts to play through the lines, but he often lacks the speed of release to prevent himself telegraphing these actions.
This leaves his crossing as the main way in which he proposes any real threat as a goal contributor. Gusto’s technique always involves a lot of curl and a lot of height, with the intention of dipping down onto the head of his team-mate. On the one or two occasions in a match when they land, they work spectacularly, but often they end up over- or under-hit, an issue United fans have too often experienced from their right back. He’s best off delivering from the deeper, diagonal angle, but more care and consideration being put into targeting the space, rather than the man, is a must for future progression.
Defensively, the 19-year-old aims to be as proactive as possible. His positional strictness in possession enables him to be in the right place when counter-pressing, which helps him rack up plenty of interceptions (ranking in the 87th percentile at 1.48 per 90) – but can be quickly unsettled if he’s not first to the ball. Even when he’s up onto them quickly, his attempted reading of moves can appear like moments of genius or naïvety, with very little middle ground between the two. Once he misses the first opportunity, he then seems to experience drops in awareness and intensity, making it easy for attackers to exploit the spaces he has left behind. How he falters when committing in this way, however, is mostly due to his technical approach. He’s often guilty of planting himself in one specific direction with a narrow body, which makes recovering against a turn the other way so difficult. This can be trained out of him with the right coaching and dedication.
Gusto is in a good place right now – not punching above his weight where he is, necessarily, but not at a club too low for what his level is currently. With his age in mind, a lot of what are weaknesses now can definitely be developed under the right guidance, as there are a lot of raw elements to his game. Despite his on-ball ability showing potential, he will still require a lot more guided protection for him to begin to operate as a more modern full-back does closer to the inside. Should United sign him, as has been rumoured for around 2 years now to my knowledge, don’t expect him to hit the ground running immediately. He’s sure to be a star with the right coaching, game-time, and most importantly, a lot of patience
Iván Fresneda - Real Vallodolid
Key word for Iván Fresneda: Strong. Good lord is this kid strong.
Coming through initially at Leganés before moving to Valladolid, the 18-year-old has only played 11 times for La Pucela this season. Such has been the quality of those performances though, Fresneda has caught the attention of an abundance of top clubs. He made his debut in Segunda in January 2022 vs Burgos, playing just once more for Valladolid that season. Since making his La Liga debut against Girona in early September, he has started all but one of the matches he has been fit for. Few players make such a strong impression after just 13 senior showings.
Fresneda is 5’10” tall and has a broad build easily able to withstand physicality. He is built very maturely for his age and knows how to take advantage of his size well. His pace is more than decent for Top 5 League level, and he’s capable when changing direction. His instincts may be the best part as he can utilize that good pace to make interceptions (Top 8%, 1.59 per 90) and an outrageous tackling ability (Top 1%, 3.54 per 90) when covering in behind. He is fantastic at using his physicality to find spaces in his own backline to fill in so he can block shots and make clearances (Top 4%, 3.17 per 90). Technique-wise, he positions his body well on- and off-ball and is able to flip his hips with his head on a swivel. His tackles are calm and precise but still bring physicality. When pressing up on opponents his athleticism can overwhelm and much like United’s new hero in Defensive Midfield, Casemiro, is seldom called for fouls when making challenges. Even when he does get called for them, he has the ability to somehow wriggle free from any punishment. Fresneda has do-it-all ability defending the wing, but he must keep working hard as quicker wingers have found ways to take advantage of him. Improvement here will come with time.
On the attack, Fresneda utilizes his dominant right foot with good passing range from the right flank and even mixes his left foot in at times. He has a good crossing ability on him and creates chances well. On ball, Fresneda displays strength not just as distributor but when ball carrying, too. He is a confident dribbler that utilizes his pace to beat his marker.
Off ball, Fresneda is a great support runner in mixed runs, stretching the right flank with his pace well, while also showing the ability to make intelligent underlapping runs. Fresneda is good at controlling the ball over the top and at his feet in space and has become a major part of Valladolid’s short build up as he has racked up more starts. In the short build up he is positioned more advanced in midfield wide right to link up play to the inverted wingers.
Tactically, Fresneda’s high work rate defensive style with offensive promise as a creator and ball carrier make him a solid fit for most La Liga clubs, showing how he has become one of the better players in a struggling Valladolid side quickly. This balanced style has helped him make a quick rise and Fresneda more than deserves to keep his place in the starting XI after the international break. His solid tactical profile will make him sought after quickly. Valladolid is a great place for him to continue to develop, but with the way he has shone this early on, it is only a matter of time before he’s snapped up.
Ethan Laird - Manchester United (On loan at QPR)
What’s a better bargain than promoting from within? Laird seems to have become a forgotten figure at the club since he left to go on loan with QPR. This would be understandable if the youngster was inconsistent and not getting many minutes, but he’s actually been one of United’s star players out on loan alongside the likes of Amad Diallo and fellow full back Álvaro Fernández.
Ethan Laird has been at Manchester United’s academy since the age of ten, and despite showing tonnes of promise when progressing through the younger age groups, many of his campaigns have been cut short and hampered by injuries. Within two months of signing his professional contract, he suffered a fresh injury in one of the UEFA Youth League game ending his season which was followed by another injury in 2019-20 ruling him out for a further two months mid-season. He does have a history of such injuries, facing another one at the loan spell with Bournemouth last season that put the brakes on his development as well as his chances to show off his capabilities.
Owing to an injury, Laird also missed an opportunity to travel with the squad in pre-season for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2019. He was part of Ole’s young Europa League League squad, following his return, where he made his senior debut in a 2-1 defeat in Kazakhstan against Astana that was followed by an appearance in another game against AZ Alkmaar. The English right-back has hopped a few different loan spells since then with MK Dons, Swansea City, AFC Bournemouth and QPR, and has seemingly been able to step away from his consistent injury woes of years previous.
This season he has started in 22 of QPR’s Championship matches since signing for the London side, helping them to seven clean sheets while providing a dynamic attacking threat. With two assists and a goal, he has shown he is capable of good productivity; however his pace and dribbling ability have really come to the fore as he has been the principal provider of width and creativity on Neil Critchley’s right-hand side, currently performing above average in the creative department with 2.4 Shot Creating Actions per 90.
Laird is surprisingly strong in the air for a player of his size and build, ranking in the 82nd percentile for Aerials Won with 1.52 per 90. His tackling this year has shown a clear improvement over previous seasons, but he is still lacking in that department, ranking below average in the number of times he’s been dribbled past by opposing players. When he does get into position to make a tackle, he ranks in the 71st percentile amongst his full back peers, well above average. It is debatable whether he will ever be capable of becoming an elite full back defensively, but Laird is almost guaranteed to become a serious threat as an attacking full-back. He has all the tools, now it’s just about giving him the best support possible for him to be successful there.
Laird can become the perfect right-back for Erik Ten Hag’s offensive playing style. With wingers of the quality of either of Jadon Sancho or Antony playing consistently in front of him, Laird is guaranteed to be lethal in making those overlapping runs and crossing in from good wide positions.
Laird has to make plenty of improvements in his games with his passing choices, lack of concentration leading to some poor decision making, and some amount of mis-controls. He is very one-dimensional in making decisions and when given a choice, he always chooses to burst past the opposition defenders and has a very good success rate in doing that. Here, he will have to improve by varying his distribution by using his left foot more often, also serving more crosses from the deeper position forcing the opposition player against him to close him down earlier and this will open up space and give him time to take on those players.
Manchester United must take Ethan Laird’s future at the club under serious consideration should they be planning on bringing in another Right Back any time soon. With luck around injuries and some quality coaching, Laird is fully capable of reaching elite heights within the game. Personally I hope he gets a chance. His performances at QPR this season have shown that he deserves it. Add on to that the fact that he’s a Home-grown player with club and country, and how important that is in terms of team registration nowadays, I think it’d be ridiculous not to give him that opportunity
Agree? Disagree? Whatever this piece made you feel, let me know about it.
Thank you for reading, Part 3 should be up ASAP.
(All statistics correct at time of writing, all taken from FBref.com)