Basically what
@FortunaUtd said. Slick possession football with one of the most intense high presses in Europe.
Of course we have the players for it. Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt and Martinez are all Ajax players and played exactly this style at Ajax. I also see no obvious reason why Dalot or Mainoo can't play it either - both certainly have the technical quality for it. Obviously Shaw is also a good fit stylistically but he's never fit. The club are going to sign a new left back anyway so not a big deal.
Eriksen also obviously has the technical quality for it but doesn't have the legs. At any rate, I expect Eriksen and Casemiro are high on the clubs replace list. Ugarte also I'd never seen play till he came to United and he's barely played for United so far, but I don't know enough about him to comment. Enrique obviously deemed him a bad fit for his style but Ruben Amorim absolutely adores him, so he's one-for-two on whether 'modern/progressive' managers rate him. We'll see about him. At any rate, I think the club need to sign a ball playing #6 anyway so this issue can be solved in the market. We might as well continue the signing managers ex-players trend and get him Angelo Stiller from Stuttgart, can't cost
that much.
Further forward, I see no obvious reason Amad doesn't have the technical quality to play in a possession side. Hojlund came to United from Atalanta who also play this high pace, high intensity, high possession, high pressing style and while I can't claim to have seen much of him at Atalanta (and his first touch is definitely a bit suspect), he's thrived in such a system before. Zirkzee has struggled at United so far, but he's come here from Bologna who under Thiago Motta played an even more insane small space combinative style of play than Stuttgart, had the highest average possession in Serie A and also were among the most intense pressing teams in the league. You can deem him not good enough for the league but stylistically, he's a good fit.
Which leaves Garnacho, Bruno and Rashford - the three I think are the reason most people have decided we have to play counterattacking. I personally don't buy this argument that they can't thrive in a possession system. It's not like your entire starting XI needs to be Xavi or Iniesta for you to play 'modern' football. I think as long as you can get the ball to Bruno high up the pitch, he will thrive in this system and his risk taking is not a big deal. It seems like a big deal now because we don't move the ball up the pitch well enough so he often receives the ball quite deep. His touches in the defensive third are a lot higher under Ten Hag than they were under Ole, and touches in the attacking third are fewer than under Ole. He's also touching it in the penalty box less than before.
Similar for Rashford. I think if we could consistently get the ball in the final third so that his touches deeper were reduced, if we can consistently get him into shooting positions, I think he's still a top player. He's also touching the ball in deeper areas a lot more than before -
Garnacho is still young and has much to develop in his game. But having a player of his pace and carrying ability surely can't be a negative. On a side note, Mount also came to United having thrived in a possession side under Tuchel, but he's never fit so might as well not be in the squad.
I think our path to being a high press - high possession team is a lot shorter than we care to admit. And it's certainly shorter than trying to become a counterattacking or transition team. I do have question marks about our players defensively/physically, especially in midfield where I don't think either of Bruno or Mainoo are great players off the ball. But between academy players stepping up and the new signings, we can turn into a 'modern' team quite easily, I think.
I think you're being sarcastic but whenever an exciting young manager gets mentioned as a potential choice for United, lots of United fans do seem to have exactly this attitude. That everyone was also giving the same praise to Ten Hag at Ajax. Which is true, and the praise was absolutely well deserved. He just hasn't been able to translate that work to United. Which is fine. Potter did great work at Brighton but struggled at Chelsea. Imagine if Chelsea took the same tack. Potter and Poch did great with lesser sides, but failed at Chelsea. Therefore, any manager who is of the same stock of manager (impressive style of play at a lesser club) is also bound to fail. Just because it didn't work with one guy doesn't mean it will never work. Just because Ten Hag has been unsuccessful, doesn't automatically mean that Hoeness/Amorim/Iraolo etc. are write-offs. Even little things like communication skills, clarity and consistency in approach, just being a better fit personality wise with the squad etc. can make a massive difference in the team's development.
Addressed above but Stuttgart didn't have the players doing this either. They were literally bottom of the Bundesliga with 7 games to go when Hoeness took over. They weren't a side on the cusp of greatness. They survived, signed Stiller, Mittelstadt (again if we're looking for a new left back), Undav and Guirassy (who has since left), and transformed completely. Players like Ito (gone to Bayern) and Anton (gone to Dortmund) were languishing at the bottom of the Bundesliga, having finished 15th the year before, and with a change of manager, magically turned into one of the most exciting teams in Germany.
A change of manager can have a massive impact. I don't know why so many United fans insist on being so miserable about the future. It might be shit (and based on the past 10 years, may even be likely to be shit), but it could also be a lot better. Cheer up.
