Man Utd told which player can save their season after Arne Slot reveals blueprint for beating Ten Hag

Liverpool manager Arne Slot revealed the blueprint for beating Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United, though pundit Daniel Sturridge has named the one new signing he’s ‘hanging his hat on’ to save United’s season.

Manchester United were their own worst enemies when falling to a bruising 3-0 defeat at the hands of bitter rivals Liverpool on home soil.

All three of Liverpool’s goals came after Man Utd midfielders surrendered possession deep within their own half.

Casemiro was at fault for Luis Diaz’s brace, while Kobbie Mainoo was bundled off the ball too easily in the build-up to Mohamed Salah’s strike.

The midfield – and more specifically the inability to adequately shield the defence – has long been cited as an area of concern during Ten Hag’s reign at Old Trafford.

Man Utd have moved to address the issue by signing former PSG and Uruguay destroyer, Manuel Ugarte.

Man Utd announced the £50.6m/€60m/$66.5m (including add-ons) signing of Ugarte on deadline day and the combative midfielder was unveiled at Old Trafford on Sunday.

When picking the bones out of Man Utd’s heavy defeat, Sky Sports pundit Daniel Sturridge threw his backing behind Ugarte as Man Utd’s saviour.

“I’m hanging my hat on Ugarte,” declared Sturridge. “I believe he’s a really good signing and you’ve seen the stats, how he plays in Europe, he’s one of the best defensive midfielders.

“It’s what they need right now. The reality of it is if you’re talking about breaking down play, transitions, all these teams doing all these things… they are very open.

“His (Ugarte’s) job and what he’s great at is helping defenders.”

How Ugarte compares to Casemiro

Ugarte will take the place of Casemiro in the engine room once up to speed after the international break.

Looking at their respective statistics for the 2023/24 season, Ugarte outperformed Casemiro in four of six key defensive metrics.

As shown, Man Utd will lose a little under the high ball, though with Ugarte alongside Mainoo they should be vastly more difficult to cut through on the ground.

READ MORE: Why Man Utd NEED Manuel Ugarte: The born ball winner who can unlock Kobbie Mainoo

Slot exposes Ten Hag’s Man Utd

Ugarte’s introduction will certainly be welcomed, though the problems at United may run beyond the simple matter of who partners Mainoo in central midfield.

When speaking to Sky Sports post-match, Liverpool boss Slot calmly and clinically broke down how his side turned Man Utd over at Old Trafford.

Per Slot, Man Utd’s pressing structure has changed, though their biggest issue is the full-backs are positioned too high up field at the beginning of Man Utd attacks.

That then leaves the opposing wingers in one-v-one situations with Man Utd’s centre-backs if possession can be won back from United’s midfielders deep within their own half.

And with all-action players like Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai putting in the hard yards, Liverpool were regularly able to dispossess Man Utd high up the pitch and take Noussair Mazraoui and Diogo Dalot out of the game.

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Slot’s blueprint for beating Ten Hag

“Last season, they were man-marking in the midfield, and they had a press with the seven and 11 (the wingers),” said Slot (as quoted by the Mirror). “So with the striker, and one of the wingers jumped with him.

“This season, they are more with a 9 and 10 press (striker and Bruno Fernandes), so they’re more in a 4-4-2.

“So that’s different, of course. I see them, in my opinion, working harder if the ball is being played through them, so they run more. That’s at least what I saw in their first games.

“Their style is also – this is maybe last season, I don’t remember that well – but their full-backs, nine out of ten times, are really high, and then Casemiro comes in between.

“So, if you pick up the ball and you can keep Luis Diaz and Mo Salah high, then you’re constantly in a one-on-one situation.

“Then you need midfielders that can run, and we had three of them today that kept running, and if they arrive in a duel, they are aggressive enough to win it.

“So that was, I think, one of the main reasons why we could win today.”

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