How ten Hag’s Genius Switch With Fernandes and Sabitzer Has Helped Man United

• Erik ten Hag's tactical awareness is slowly setting him apart as an elite manager
• There have been early signs that Manchester United could return to the glory days of Sir Alex Ferguson
• His latest change in formation involving Bruno Fernandes and Marcel Sabitzer has been top-notch

Erik ten Hag's appointment as Manchester United's permanent Head Coach last summer was met with mixed reactions. There were those who felt the club could be in safer hands under the experienced and serial winner that is Antonio Conte.

Not that ten Hag's CV was poor by any means, but managing a dominant Ajax team in the Eredivisie with periodical surprise features in Europe was different from managing a club of Manchester United's stature.

His first two games didn't help either, as he lost against Brighton and Brentford, the latter a 4-0 humiliation at the Community Stadium.

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Ten Hag's tactics

Gradually, the Dutch tactician imposed his tactics at Old Trafford, integrated the new signings with the existing players and subsequently, there was an upturn in fortunes.

Six months later, he had a trophy to show for it, with United still firmly in two other competitions. The Premier League looks like a forgone alternative at this point.

One thing that stands out for ten Hag is his ability to read the opponent's game plan and adapt immediately. His ingenuity has dug him out of sticky situations this season and a case in point is the 2-0 win over Leeds United, where he deployed Wout Weghorst as a number 10, as previously elucidated by Sports Brief.

After the Carabao Cup final win over Newcastle, the Red Devils suffered a drop in form in the Premier League, including the infamous 7-0 thumping by their main rivals, Liverpool, followed by an insipid performance against Southampton before Newcastle avenged their Cup final loss at the St.James Park.

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Something had to give.

Deep-lying midfielder

In the following game against Brentford, stand-in captain Bruno Fernandes was deployed in an unfamiliar role. He dropped deep to form part of the double pivot with Scott McTominay. This, in turn, allowed loan signing Marcel Sabitzer to push forward to play as a number 10.

So good and dominant was the Portuguese star in that role that ten Hag labelled his performance as 'brilliant.' He repeated the same trick against Everton, capping off another marvellous display as United recorded two out of two wins.

Fernandes' vision is one of the best in the league and his ability to spray crosses upfield gave Everton a hard time. His deep role also meant he was involved in controlling the tempo and stopping the counterattacks in a classic display of a quarterback in NFL lingo, as The Athletic's Laurie Whitwell puts it.

Both of the goals against the Toffees came from Fernandes' crosses from deep inside his own half.

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This change in roles has allowed Sabitzer's goalscoring potential to come to the fore, with Sevilla suffering the full damage. The Austrian could easily have had a hat trick on April 13 in the first leg of the Europa League quarterinals, but he still got two.

He was played off Antony Martial, almost in a secondary striker position. Both his goals came from wonderful runs behind the defence - the first assisted by Fernandes.

Casemiro, Eriksen return

They might have thrown away a 2-0 lead against Sevilla, but there is no doubt that United are clicking with this new shake-up, but it would be interesting to see where Fernandes will play now that Casemiro has completed his suspension and Cristian Eriksen has ramped up his fitness levels after an injury layoff.

Also, does Sabitzer now make way? What about the in-form McTominay? Any manager will tell you that these are the kind of headaches they love to have - especially if you are competing for two more trophies and a top-four finish.

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It gives you impetus and impressive squad depth to get over the line. Fernandes' suspension next week in Andalusia is certain to be a big miss.

Games Rashford will miss through injury

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Manchester United fans’ worst fears have been confirmed as Marcus Rashford is set to be out 'for a few games' with a muscle injury.

The club released a statement on April 12, confirming Rashford suffered a muscle injury and not a groin strain as initially feared.

Rashford has been in red-hot form for United this season, with his goal-scoring prowess particularly coming to life after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.