In Ajax’s greatest season under Erik ten Hag there was a degree of consistency that comes from knowing your best team and having a squad small enough to keep everyone contented.
Ajax played 58 games in 2018/19, winning the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup and missing out on a Champions League final in the most agonising, heartbreaking circumstances. But through all of that workload and drama, only 20 players played 10 or more games in that season. Eleven players featured in at least 46 of those matches.
Ten Hag certainly knew his best team in that season and he had built a team suited to his needs. It wasn’t needlessly big, but was slimmed down to incorporate the players he could rely on and keep motivated and it worked brilliantly.
He also had the bonus of being able to call on youngsters from Ajax’s renowned academy. Another 11 players played five or less games that season.
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So far all the excitement and drama of the transfer window and a mad trolley dash, there is actually a benefit to having a smaller squad. Ten Hag already knows that, but he only has to glance across Manchester to the Etihad for proof that can work in the Premier League as well.
Manchester City played 61 games on their way to the treble this season and 22 players played in 10 or more games. That includes back-up goalkeeper Stefan Ortega and youngsters such as Rico Lewis, Sergio Gomez and Cole Palmer. Those 22 players actually all played in at least 14 of those 61 games and Pep Guardiola used only three more players, handing Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Maximo Perrone and Shea Charles just five appearances between them.
It’s evidence of how tight this City squad is. Those 22 first-team players are ideal for a Champions League squad, with third-choice goalkeeper Scott Carson the 23rd squad member. Some managers might argue that squad is actually understaffed, but it worked for City.
It kept Guardiola’s options clear and throughout the season all of those players contributed to the eventual success. It’s a squad that is focused on quality rather than quantity.
If Ten Hag completes a cull of his United squad this summer, he might be in a similar position. It is certainly evidence that he can sell players this summer without needing to replace them all.
In his first season at Old Trafford, Ten Hag took charge of 63 games, with 25 players featuring in at least 10 of them. He used 30 players in total. That squad will be swelled again by returning senior loanees Dean Henderson, Alex Telles and Eric Bailly.
A squad of that size can be unwieldy and as he bids to raise funds and trim a bloated squad, Ten Hag can be aggressive when it comes to sales. Telles and Bailly can both leave and United will negotiate with Nottingham Forest for Henderson once their goalkeeping situation is cleared up.
In defence, Harry Maguire could move on and United would be open to listening to offers. Fred and Scott McTominay are both possible departures in midfield. Donny van de Beek could leave, but the serious knee injury that wrecked his reunion with Ten Hag might mean he has few suitors.
Further forward, Anthony Elanga and Facundo Pellistri could leave either permanently or on loan and Anthony Martial is another senior player who might be sold to raise funds.
It sounds like a major clear out and there is certainly an element of Ten Hag wanting to clear the decks and accelerate the transformation of this team into one in his own image. But he also inherited a squad that was far too big and as he proved with Ajax, and as Guardiola did with City, a small squad is no impediment to success. In fact, it might actually help.
