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2022-23 Performances


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5.8 Season Average Rating
Appearances
18
Goals
3
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1
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I'm curious if people think any of our youngsters will have an impact on the decision. Assuming Sabitzer is seen as a backup/rotation 8/10, that's the position our academy has produced talents with at a decent rate. Currently Hannibal, Mainoo, Shoretire, arguably Iqbal, Diallo potentially, there's another lad in the academy whose name I can't remember too. On one hand Sabitzer could be seen as a short term/cheap option as cover until one of those displaces him, on the other hand the more pressing need is for a holding midfielder and signing Sabitzer too might leave the squad a bit bloated/block progression for younger players.

The younger players aren't ready for the intensity and demand and mentality and personality. Only one we've seen is Garnacho. Hannibal is the most progressing, Amad has been a wide player/forward line.

Mainoo, Shoretire, and Iqbal, and might as well put Savage there...they are at least 3 years away if not more. They are so young and mentally not capable right now, that's normal. We haven't even started talking about the physical demands.
 
The younger players aren't ready for the intensity and demand and mentality and personality. Only one we've seen is Garnacho. Hannibal is the most progressing, Amad has been a wide player/forward line.

Mainoo, Shoretire, and Iqbal, and might as well put Savage there...they are at least 3 years away if not more. They are so young and mentally not capable right now, that's normal. We haven't even started talking about the physical demands.
Mainoo certainly does not look 3 years away. Very composed and calm in his cameos, looks physically able for it. I'd like to see him around it a bit more.
 
Another midfielder who's better higher up the pitch. We love to collect them.
 
Mainoo certainly does not look 3 years away. Very composed and calm in his cameos, looks physically able for it. I'd like to see him around it a bit more.

He's 17. What 17 to 21 year old across England is playing consistently in his position? He's played 87 minutes of senior football, with 60 coming against Charlton (midtable of League One) in the League Cup.
 
Do we need him if we bring in a top class CM. There would be Casemiro, Fred, Eriksen and A.N.Other for 2 positions. That should be enough cover.
I’d argue that we need two who are good passers and/or can help run the play in the engine room. And Sabitzer doesn’t do that so he goes.
 
The younger players aren't ready for the intensity and demand and mentality and personality. Only one we've seen is Garnacho. Hannibal is the most progressing, Amad has been a wide player/forward line.

Mainoo, Shoretire, and Iqbal, and might as well put Savage there...they are at least 3 years away if not more. They are so young and mentally not capable right now, that's normal. We haven't even started talking about the physical demands.

Hannibal is definitely the closest of the ones I mentioned, he's got plenty of first team experience in the Championship and International football, no chance he lacks intensity or physicality. We paid something crazy for him like £15m when he was 16 so I'm certain well involve him in the squad, only question is whether it's next season or the season after. I think he's likely to be a better player than Sabitzer before long.

Diallo has played a bit as a 10 for Sunderland and his style of play suggests he could play there more regularly too, which i included him in that list as an 'arguable' option. He's nailed on to be given a couple seasons in the squad to try and breakthrough, he's been one of the best players in the Championship this season.

The rest I agree are further away, which is why I think signing Sabitzer may be a good short term option. I'd happily see a midfield for next season of:

Casemiro - New DM
Eriksen - Sabitzer - Fred
Bruno - Hannibal

With Sancho and Diallo being primarily wide players but able to cover at 10 as well. I think numbers wise that's fine. Obviously a top quality 8 instead of Sabitzer would be better, but compared to other positions it's way down the priority list imo, especially with Hannibal on the cusp. I am worried that he hasn't been able to perform the deep playmaker role asked him though, to the extent that Bruno has been moved deeper as a result. But I'll reserve judgement until he gets a few games alongside Casemiro, and if a second holding midfielder is brought in then it's not a worry.
 
He's 17. What 17 to 21 year old across England is playing consistently in his position? He's played 87 minutes of senior football, with 60 coming against Charlton (midtable of League One) in the League Cup.
He's 18 in 10 days. Besides, there's Jacob Ramsey, Harvey Elliott, Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo off the top of my head. Bellingham has also been doing at the top of the Bundesliga, in international competitions for his country and in the CL. Good chance he makes a move to one of the elite teams this summer where he'll be expected to be the main man. Loads of examples. It's no good shielding talented young players away for years with the expectation that suddenly at 21 they'll be ready. There needs to be clear pathway for them into the first team to contribute.
 
He's 18 in 10 days. Besides, there's Jacob Ramsey, Harvey Elliott, Romeo Lavia, Moises Caicedo off the top of my head. Bellingham has also been doing at the top of the Bundesliga, in international competitions for his country and in the CL. Good chance he makes a move to one of the elite teams this summer where he'll be expected to be the main man. Loads of examples. It's no good shielding talented young players away for years with the expectation that suddenly at 21 they'll be ready. There needs to be clear pathway for them into the first team to contribute.

Players earn their way into the first team and there's always a pathway, but they have to earn it.

You compare these players to Mainoo and they are physically much more ready. Ramsey turns 22 in May, Lavia is much more advanced in experience and talent than Mainoo and is also much larger. Caicedo is 21. So point being, you can count on one hand how many of these 17 to 21 players are playing consistently. And none of them are playing for (currently) Champions League sides, but at least are playing consistently compared to Mainoo because they are good enough for the squads while Mainoo isn't. It's part of his development but shit, he's 17 and is well ahead for now but doesn't mean United throw him into the deep end.

Bellingham is a different breed, the extreme end. Expecting far too much far too soon for the likes of Mainoo is wrong. He's not ready for a prominent squad role.

Compared to Sabitzer, it's 100% clear who is the more impactful player now and in the immediate future. Sabitzer is known quality and should be more consistent and flexible than Mainoo, Hannibal. Unless a clear higher quality player comes available to step up above Eriksen (it won't be cheap), plus the future of McTominay and DvB, Sabitzer would be a very good signing for around 15M.
 
Not convinced yet about Sabitzer, but there is more time. He seems to help the team.
 
I like Sabitzer and the way he helps the team tick. Against Brentford, he was efficient. He's not a flashy player, but he's taking more shots and will start adding goals to his game, and his worth will be more obvious. In head to head with Fred and McT, I'd say that Sabitzer gives consistently a 7/10 performance, maybe reaching 8/10. Fred will give you a 3/10, a 5/10, or a 8/10, often in the same match. McT will give you a 6/10 every match. So, if I were picking the team, I'd select stability and reliability (Sabz) over mercurial coin toss (Fred) or almost but not quite there (McT). I think Sabz is better positionally than McFred, he reads the game faster, and he's able to spring counters faster. It's still his first season with us and he's adapted remarkably well.
 
Players earn their way into the first team and there's always a pathway, but they have to earn it.

You compare these players to Mainoo and they are physically much more ready. Ramsey turns 22 in May, Lavia is much more advanced in experience and talent than Mainoo and is also much larger. Caicedo is 21. So point being, you can count on one hand how many of these 17 to 21 players are playing consistently. And none of them are playing for (currently) Champions League sides, but at least are playing consistently compared to Mainoo because they are good enough for the squads while Mainoo isn't. It's part of his development but shit, he's 17 and is well ahead for now but doesn't mean United throw him into the deep end.

Bellingham is a different breed, the extreme end. Expecting far too much far too soon for the likes of Mainoo is wrong. He's not ready for a prominent squad role.

Compared to Sabitzer, it's 100% clear who is the more impactful player now and in the immediate future. Sabitzer is known quality and should be more consistent and flexible than Mainoo, Hannibal. Unless a clear higher quality player comes available to step up above Eriksen (it won't be cheap), plus the future of McTominay and DvB, Sabitzer would be a very good signing for around 15M.
Ramsey has been playing for Villa for the past 3 seasons, he was a teenager when he started featuring regularly. You also say Ramsey turns 22 in May but then keep repeating Mainoo is 17 - he turns 18 in less than 2 weeks. I don't think the expectation is Mainoo should be playing a prominent role in the squad, but you'd imagine the plan this summer is for us to recruit a De Jong type profile of player, and ideally a DM to cover for Casemiro (the 19 year old Lavia seems to be everyone's favourite choice). If that happens, there's no point in signing Sabitzer. He isn't good enough to force his way into the team and it makes better sense to give Mainoo/Hannibal whatever minutes in the Cup games and dead rubbers are left over.

Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, Bruno, new number 8, new young DM cover, and Mainoo/Hannibal is more than enough (and that's assuming both McTominay and Donny leave). Sabitzer doesn't fit and isn't needed in my opinion.
 
Ramsey has been playing for Villa for the past 3 seasons, he was a teenager when he started featuring regularly. You also say Ramsey turns 22 in May but then keep repeating Mainoo is 17 - he turns 18 in less than 2 weeks. I don't think the expectation is Mainoo should be playing a prominent role in the squad, but you'd imagine the plan this summer is for us to recruit a De Jong type profile of player, and ideally a DM to cover for Casemiro (the 19 year old Lavia seems to be everyone's favourite choice). If that happens, there's no point in signing Sabitzer. He isn't good enough to force his way into the team and it makes better sense to give Mainoo/Hannibal whatever minutes in the Cup games and dead rubbers are left over.

Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, Bruno, new number 8, new young DM cover, and Mainoo/Hannibal is more than enough (and that's assuming both McTominay and Donny leave). Sabitzer doesn't fit and isn't needed in my opinion.
  • Central midfielders: Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, New 8, New DM
    • Orthodox center mid (8 more than a 6): Eriksen, Fred, New 8
    • Defensive center mid (6 more than 8): Casemiro, New DM
  • Attacking midfielder: Bruno....and 'new' 8/10 hybrid
From the current squad, you and many others see McTominay and DvB as expendable. I agree. However, your scenario of two new center midfield players of capable quality (New 8 and New DM) will cost around 75M+ at least.

Then you have to account for the striker/CF position and GK and RB.

All that considered, Sabitzer fits the profile of a squad player that is needed, has positional flexibility, experienced, leader, etc. All for probably 15M to 20M who fits the 8/10 role that DvB cannot and totally up in the air about Mainoo/Hannibal.

The pathway for Mainoo and Hannibal is still very much there in that 3 year window. In 2 years, Eriksen will be near free agent status, probably same with Fred, and Casemiro is near his mid 30s at that point in time. So that's where Mainoo and Hannibal have to stay patient and earn their way into the first team squad, let alone a place in the matchday squads.
 
Played well last night but I don’t see point in adding another player that we seem to struggle to have a clear role for (although in fairness we haven’t seen alongside Casemiro).

We desperately need another DM and an upgrade on Eriksen. Sabitzer isn’t either so it’s just a signing that wouldn’t really make sense unless we are short on funds.
 
Played well last night but I don’t see point in adding another player that we seem to struggle to have a clear role for (although in fairness we haven’t seen alongside Casemiro).

We desperately need another DM and an upgrade on Eriksen. Sabitzer isn’t either so it’s just a signing that wouldn’t really make sense unless we are short on funds.

United need an upgraded DM behind Casemiro (current backup is McTominay), you mention Eriksen and that's been Fred. But we know it was FdJ and Eriksen. But also need to replace DvB or just phase him out.

So that's 3 new players and United have much greater needs that will eat up a huge chunk of their budget (and wages). Sabitzer is able to play throughout the central midfield positions at a consistent and good level, plus it suits the tactics EtH deploys throughout matches.
 
  • Central midfielders: Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, New 8, New DM
    • Orthodox center mid (8 more than a 6): Eriksen, Fred, New 8
    • Defensive center mid (6 more than 8): Casemiro, New DM
  • Attacking midfielder: Bruno....and 'new' 8/10 hybrid
From the current squad, you and many others see McTominay and DvB as expendable. I agree. However, your scenario of two new center midfield players of capable quality (New 8 and New DM) will cost around 75M+ at least.

Then you have to account for the striker/CF position and GK and RB.

All that considered, Sabitzer fits the profile of a squad player that is needed, has positional flexibility, experienced, leader, etc. All for probably 15M to 20M.

The pathway for Mainoo and Hannibal is still very much there in that 3 year window. In 2 years, Eriksen will be near free agent status, probably same with Fred, and Casemiro is near his mid 30s. So that's where Mainoo and Hannibal have to stay patient and earn their way into the first team squad, let alone a place in the matchday squads.
Hannibal is 20 and will be 21 in January. He'll be coming back to United on the back of a very solid season at Birmingham City in the Championship. This is the time for him to come into the squad and contribute, not 2 or 3 years down the line.

I would say that a young DM, an 8, a right back, a GK, and a striker is achievable this summer - especially with a new set of owners that will want to start there stewardship with an absolute bang. With the 20/25m it'd cost to purchase Sabitzer, I'd put that towards Lavia/a young DM. If Southampton get relegated, Lavia will almost certainly be available for a decent fee so it makes much better sense to invest that money in him as opposed to Sabitzer where we already have Fred, Eriksen, Bruno, Hannibal, and Mainoo fulfilling very similar roles and positions.

Sabitzer for £20/25m or Lavia for £40/45m - the latter just makes so much more sense to me. We urgently need a player that can competently play that number 6 role when Casemiro is out. It's actually vitally important in my opinion. Who the hell knows who Casemiro will throttle next season.
 
United need an upgraded DM behind Casemiro (current backup is McTominay), you mention Eriksen and that's been Fred. But we know it was FdJ and Eriksen. But also need to replace DvB or just phase him out.

So that's 3 new players and United have much greater needs that will eat up a huge chunk of their budget (and wages). Sabitzer is able to play throughout the central midfield positions at a consistent and good level, plus it suits the tactics EtH deploys throughout matches.
ten Hag is playing Bruno in central midfield at the moment and Sabitzer higher in the number 10. Doesn't that speak to the lack of confidence in Sabitzer as a central midfielder? I find it hard to believe ten Hag thinks Sabitzer is a better number 10 than Bruno.
 
Either he doesn’t know what role he’s playing or Ten Hag’s playing him in a bizarre position, because he seems to spend an awful lot of time not in midfield, and yet not affecting the play in any obvious way. I can’t make any sense of it.
 
I like him. He seems to be an upgrade to Fred or McT. However, it's hard to make a case for buying him when he can't even make our first team ahead of either.
 
ten Hag is playing Bruno in central midfield at the moment and Sabitzer higher in the number 10. Doesn't that speak to the lack of confidence in Sabitzer as a central midfielder? I find it hard to believe ten Hag thinks Sabitzer is a better number 10 than Bruno.

It speaks to Sabitzer's flexibility and the need to get Bruno on the ball more without being marked out of the match like he was against Newcastle. When you're going up against 3 CBs and need to press and be more robust while your CF is Marcus, it was a great change by EtH. Sabitzer offered flexibility to EtH and the team to make the team better overall and provide a different wrinkle against an in form side like Brentford has been.

Sabitzer helped set the tone from kickoff. He knew exactly what was expected of him and what to do and when. Also played in Marcus for the game winning goal in a totally new role he's never played for United until yesterday. I think EtH has confidence in Sabitzer to play a role in the squad and make a difference like again yesterday.
 
It speaks to Sabitzer's flexibility and the need to get Bruno on the ball more without being marked out of the match like he was against Newcastle. When you're going up against 3 CBs and need to press and be more robust while your CF is Marcus, it was a great change by EtH. Sabitzer offered flexibility to EtH and the team to make the team better overall and provide a different wrinkle against an in form side like Brentford has been.

Sabitzer helped set the tone from kickoff. He knew exactly what was expected of him and what to do and when. Also played in Marcus for the game winning goal in a totally new role he's never played for United until yesterday. I think EtH has confidence in Sabitzer to play a role in the squad and make a difference like again yesterday.
To me it spoke to Bruno's flexibility if anything - I don't think ten Hag trusted McTominay and Sabitzer to make enough of an impact to keep Brentford pinned back so he played Bruno out of position to facilitate that happening and it worked. Ideally you want your best players in their proper positions and if we had Lavia and not Sabitzer, we wouldn't see Bruno getting shunted into deep positions and further away from the opposition goal where he's at his most devastating.
 
I don't mind him, but we should be looking at higher quality players really. Someone once said that signing squad players is the wrong outlook - sign players who are as good or better than the ones you already have. He isn't that.
 
I like Sabitzer and the way he helps the team tick. Against Brentford, he was efficient. He's not a flashy player, but he's taking more shots and will start adding goals to his game, and his worth will be more obvious. In head to head with Fred and McT, I'd say that Sabitzer gives consistently a 7/10 performance, maybe reaching 8/10. Fred will give you a 3/10, a 5/10, or a 8/10, often in the same match. McT will give you a 6/10 every match. So, if I were picking the team, I'd select stability and reliability (Sabz) over mercurial coin toss (Fred) or almost but not quite there (McT). I think Sabz is better positionally than McFred, he reads the game faster, and he's able to spring counters faster. It's still his first season with us and he's adapted remarkably well.
Great post.
 
United need an upgraded DM behind Casemiro (current backup is McTominay), you mention Eriksen and that's been Fred. But we know it was FdJ and Eriksen. But also need to replace DvB or just phase him out.

So that's 3 new players and United have much greater needs that will eat up a huge chunk of their budget (and wages). Sabitzer is able to play throughout the central midfield positions at a consistent and good level, plus it suits the tactics EtH deploys throughout matches.

I don’t think need to replace DVB, he’s hardly played all season and if he was fit I doubt we’d have signed Sabitzer on loan.

I like Sabitzer but it’s adding quantity rather than a real upgrade to our starting eleven. If we sell Mctominay and DVB, send Sabitzer back and sign an actual DM and a CM of higher quality that’s a huge upgrade.
 
I don't mind him, but we should be looking at higher quality players really. Someone once said that signing squad players is the wrong outlook - sign players who are as good or better than the ones you already have. He isn't that.
Ideally, every new player coming into the squad (either by signing or promotion from the youths) should be able to challenge for a place in the first XI.

Sabitzer is good enough to challenge for a place in the first XI. When everyone is fit and in form, he probably won’t get in but he’s good enough to keep Eriksen on his toes and we’ve all seen that Eriksen fades badly after half time so a good sub option is a must. Sabitzer is very suitable for that.

He improves the squad - most people are on board with that. I think he’s one of those signings that could make sense, at the right price, assuming we aren’t able to get someone who is a clear improvement on Eriksen (for big bucks) or someone better than Sabitzer (for similar money). Option Three is bring Hannibal back and properly invest some faith in him.
 
To me it spoke to Bruno's flexibility if anything - I don't think ten Hag trusted McTominay and Sabitzer to make enough of an impact to keep Brentford pinned back so he played Bruno out of position to facilitate that happening and it worked. Ideally you want your best players in their proper positions and if we had Lavia and not Sabitzer, we wouldn't see Bruno getting shunted into deep positions and further away from the opposition goal where he's at his most devastating.

If we had Lavia, we wouldn't need McTominay as they occupy similar positions. Sabitzer would line up with Lavia, but how EtH did it yesterday with Sabitzer and Marcus occupying 3 CBs and a congested midfield worked extremely well for the first half and most of the second before fatigue started to come into play.

The flexibility and intelligence of both Bruno and Sabitzer was a clear advantage last night.
 
I don’t think need to replace DVB, he’s hardly played all season and if he was fit I doubt we’d have signed Sabitzer on loan.

I like Sabitzer but it’s adding quantity rather than a real upgrade to our starting eleven. If we sell Mctominay and DVB, send Sabitzer back and sign an actual DM and a CM of higher quality that’s a huge upgrade.

You still need quality depth and it's very clear Sabitzer fits that need. The younger players will have their time, but happy for them to come into the summer and take their chance, but it rarely happens and that's okay. We also need top characters to lead the young players like they have with Garnacho and to a certain degree Pellestri and Malacia.
 
I don't think his being an attacking mid is a bad thing really. My guess is we sign someone who can both credibly backup Casemiro and play as an 8, like De Jong, Neves, Caicedo or Rice and then we look like this in midfield:

Bruno - Eriksen - Sabitzer
#8 - Eriksen - Sabitzer
Casemiro - #8

and probably one of Fred (my guess) or Mctominay sticks around as the 6th guy for depth for one last year and barring injuries he's sort of unhappy with his playing time and then hopefully Mainoo is the new 6th man in 2024-25.

5 main guys covering 3 spots, which at let's say 55 games (38 league + 10 CL + 7 domestic cup games) is 165 starts. 33 each is a good number with Bruno probably closer to 40 and maybe Sabitzer closer to 25.

I could even see Fred and McTominay leaving for more playing time and financial purposes, and the 6th guy being a random cheap signing from a smaller country or league, or a veteran loanee in like Zakaria was for Chelsea. Or Mainoo just being given a shot, same age Gravenberch was in his first big season for Ajax and if we have an injury we can pick up a loan in January again.
 
Do we need him if we bring in a top class CM. There would be Casemiro, Fred, Eriksen and A.N.Other for 2 positions. That should be enough cover.

Not enough unless that CM is able to also provide cover at CDM,otherwise will need to sign two midfielders to have options for various situations
 
Ramsey has been playing for Villa for the past 3 seasons, he was a teenager when he started featuring regularly. You also say Ramsey turns 22 in May but then keep repeating Mainoo is 17 - he turns 18 in less than 2 weeks. I don't think the expectation is Mainoo should be playing a prominent role in the squad, but you'd imagine the plan this summer is for us to recruit a De Jong type profile of player, and ideally a DM to cover for Casemiro (the 19 year old Lavia seems to be everyone's favourite choice). If that happens, there's no point in signing Sabitzer. He isn't good enough to force his way into the team and it makes better sense to give Mainoo/Hannibal whatever minutes in the Cup games and dead rubbers are left over.

Casemiro, Eriksen, Fred, Bruno, new number 8, new young DM cover, and Mainoo/Hannibal is more than enough (and that's assuming both McTominay and Donny leave). Sabitzer doesn't fit and isn't needed in my opinion.

Still have seen zero evidence so far of Utd wanting to sign a number 8 and DM cover
 
I don't think his being an attacking mid is a bad thing really. My guess is we sign someone who can both credibly backup Casemiro and play as an 8, like De Jong, Neves, Caicedo or Rice and then we look like this in midfield:

Bruno - Eriksen - Sabitzer
#8 - Eriksen - Sabitzer
Casemiro - #8

and probably one of Fred (my guess) or Mctominay sticks around as the 6th guy for depth for one last year and barring injuries he's sort of unhappy with his playing time and then hopefully Mainoo is the new 6th man in 2024-25.

5 main guys covering 3 spots, which at let's say 55 games (38 league + 10 CL + 7 domestic cup games) is 165 starts. 33 each is a good number with Bruno probably closer to 40 and maybe Sabitzer closer to 25.

I could even see Fred and McTominay leaving for more playing time and financial purposes, and the 6th guy being a random cheap signing from a smaller country or league, or a veteran loanee in like Zakaria was for Chelsea. Or Mainoo just being given a shot, same age Gravenberch was in his first big season for Ajax and if we have an injury we can pick up a loan in January again.
Agree with all of this. Basically a midfielder that knows where to be defensively, isn't weak or slow, and can take the ball from the defense and progress it.

I thought Sabitzer might be that guy but he's a bit slower then I hoped.
 
You still need quality depth and it's very clear Sabitzer fits that need. The younger players will have their time, but happy for them to come into the summer and take their chance, but it rarely happens and that's okay. We also need top characters to lead the young players like they have with Garnacho and to a certain degree Pellestri and Malacia.

Fred, Eriksen and a new DM would be the depth, I just don’t see why we need another player on a similar level. We also have plenty of experience already and given Fred, Casemiro and Eriksen are all in their 30s we really should be looking for younger additions in midfield than adding more experienced players.
 
Agree with all of this. Basically a midfielder that knows where to be defensively, isn't weak or slow, and can take the ball from the defense and progress it.

I thought Sabitzer might be that guy but he's a bit slower then I hoped.

It's no coincidence he's a Red Bull guy. He's not going to control the game or have 100 passes. More of a working class Lampard than a working class Xavi.

I'm a little surprised he's so eager to sign though, maybe we told him we're not buying an expensive midfielder? I thought he might be open to joining Spurs (who don't have a 10) or say Newcastle (he's better than Willock) or Liverpool if he's gonna be the #5 midfielder here for 3 spots if we sign one of De Jong/Caicedo/Rice/Neves/Mac Allister/Kone. I said we'll sign a #6/8, but something like this wouldn't shock me:

Fred out, Sabitzer and Mac Allister in:

-----------------------Bruno(Sabitzer)----------------
Eriksen(Mac Allister)-----Casemiro(McTominay)

and Mac Allister gets a year to bed in before taking over for Eriksen, who becomes a supersub. But I don't see how that's a great move for Sabitzer.
 
Either he doesn’t know what role he’s playing or Ten Hag’s playing him in a bizarre position, because he seems to spend an awful lot of time not in midfield, and yet not affecting the play in any obvious way. I can’t make any sense of it.

That has been a recurring feature of Ten Hag's set up from pre-season, 1 deep midfielder, quite isolated, the other 2 pushed up very high. Allows for a high aggressive press but also gives a lot of playmaking responsibility to the defense, hence Lisandro and Shaw being so important.
 
I think there was quite an obvious tactic that ETH wanted Sabitzer pushed up against the opposition centre backs at times. He wasn't doing it for the whole game but was definitely dovetailing with Rashford in doing this. Quite an interesting idea considering many were advocating for McTominay to be an attacker, but the manager saw something totally different around this.
 
That has been a recurring feature of Ten Hag's set up from pre-season, 1 deep midfielder, quite isolated, the other 2 pushed up very high. Allows for a high aggressive press but also gives a lot of playmaking responsibility to the defense, hence Lisandro and Shaw being so important.

Yeah, I understand it from the pressing perspective, but I find it hard to believe that’s how he wants to set up on the ball. I get that Sabitzer drags the midfield around and creates space by being that high up, some of the time, but he also seems to be completely redundant a lot of the time. He’s just not in a position for anyone to find him. Maybe there’a a lot of subtlety to it that I’m missing, but it just seems a bit aimless. And it’s not like we’re playing such dominant football that you’d think we’ve found something that really works, and we’re executing it to perfection.
 
Man Utd 2:0 Everton
Did well again, in an understated way. Doesn't take much time out of the ball, moves it efficiently but also isn't afraid as Donny is, to play an aggressive pass if it is on or look for a shot. Looks a far better player as this number 10 slash second striker hybrid rather than deeper. He has faded in the second half of both of these games, not sure he has fully adjusted to the tempo of the PL but starting to see were he can bring some value.
 
He’s basically what you wanted Van de Beek to be in that position. Unlike the former, Sabitzer actually wants to get involved and make a difference.

He was great today. I’d keep him for the quoted price.
 
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