Guardian writers’ predicted position: 5th (NB: this is not necessarily Jamie Jackson’s prediction but the average of our writers’ tips)
Last season’s position: 8th
Prospects
Erik ten Hag and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have been careful to state time is required for Manchester United to enjoy serial days of glory again and after the team finished a record Premier League low of eighth place last season you can understand their logic. But, privately, each may fancy their chances of being dark horse contenders, at least for a respectable chunk of the championship race.
Why? Because both men are winners whose ability to back themselves to end up on top is why they are at the record 20-times champions – as the manager (Ten Hag) and the minority owner and head of football operations (Ratcliffe). The prudent plea for patience does not mean a repeat of last term’s muddled style and low position will be accepted, though. While the injuries to the new signing Leny Yoro (who is out for three months) and Rasmus Højlund (five weeks) are a blow, by the close of the market Ten Hag may be able to choose from a squad containing upgrades in defence (De Ligt, Mazraoui and Yoro, when recovered), forward (Joshua Zirkzee) and defensive midfield (Manuel Ugarte is of interest).
But left-back is an issue because Tyrell Malacia last pulled on the shirt two seasons ago and remains unavailable for about more two months and Luke Shaw is injury prone. There is hope in this position that Harry Amass, 17, can be this term’s Kobbie Mainoo – a breakthrough youngster.
The information is that Ten Hag does not have to take United to a top-four finish to dodge the sack because more vital, for Ratcliffe and his Ineos-led football operation, is the construction of a foundation that will establish United as perennial challengers.
The manager
Ten Hag usually has a twinkle in the eye so on signing his new two-year contract the 54-year-old may have enjoyed a few private chuckles after the Ratcliffe-led consideration of a plethora of potential alternative managers resulted in the judgment that he remains the best man for the hotseat. Ten Hag’s status can be viewed as glass half full or half empty. The first take is that given Ratcliffe’s retention of him and the claiming of a second trophy in his second campaign (the FA Cup), Ten Hag has never been stronger, which means greater respect from his players who will take every instruction as gospel. Or, footballers, being instinctively about self-survival, may survey how close their manager came to being culled and ease off a crucial fraction as they judge him as being fatally weakened.
Off-field picture
At the moment United’s back-of-house football operation has a rosy glow owing to the Ineos revamp. The early signings of Zirkzee and Yoro accentuated this and if the further targets are landed, the feelgood factor going into the season should rocket. But, fascinating and crucial is how the relationship between Ineos and Ten Hag plays out. Sure, the manager has to forget his new masters doubting him but can he and they truly move past this? Will the Dutchman be backed if, say, two or three games are lost in a row or there is a run of draws and the odd win while the team appear lost, which occurred last season?
Breakout star
Last season Ten Hag nurtured two homegrown starlets in Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho. This season it could be Amass and Amad Diallo. In style Amass, who signed from Watford 12 months ago, is similar to Shaw, the left-back he seeks to compete with. He is technically impressive, physically robust and has a burst of pace that reminds this observer of Shaw before his double leg break in September 2015. Diallo’s added-time extra-time winner in March’s scintillating 4-3 FA Cup knockout of Liverpool announced the Ivorian to the big time. His next challenge: get a grip on a starting berth and not let go. Not easy with Garnacho, Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Zirkzee and Antony vying, too, for a place in the forward line.
The A-lister
Bruno Fernandes has driven United’s playing style via his particular version of the No 10 position since his signing in January 2020: a type of scattergun whirling dervish who pops up in any zone – defensive, midfield or attack – dictating the side’s pattern. But, now, the future of the club’s best footballer since his arrival is less sure: is he agitating genuinely to depart or for a pay rise? The latter is surely the preference for Ten Hag because there is no in-house successor as good and finding one in the limited remaining time of the market would be a needless headache when other areas of the side require surgery.
What they did this summer
Mainoo arrived in Germany for the European Championship as an FA Cup final goalscorer and ended as first choice in England’s midfield, starting the 2-1 final defeat by Spain, after decorating the semi-final victory over the Netherlands. As he said on LA’s Venice Beach in July, his “crazy” rise is straight from the pages of a fantasy comic book and the latest advert for the club’s vaunted academy provides inspiration to those behind him in the ranks at Carrington. At 19 Mainoo has the in-game temperament of the gnarled pro that was previously possessed by another teenager who enjoyed a blistering Euros – Wayne Rooney, in 2004.
