Coming to MU, the first thing Ten Hag MUST do is strip Maguire of the captain’s armband

Why Ten Hag had to sack Maguire as captain right after arriving MU?

In August 2019, Ashley Young officially became the new captain of MU after Antonio Valencia left the “Theater of Dreams” to return to his hometown Ecuador to wear LDU Quito shirt in the form of a nursing home. But at that time, Young was 34 years old. The old general wearing the number 18 shirt was on the other side of the slope of his career. Young is also gradually losing both form and main kick and is forecast to leave MU.

At that time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was forced to find a new captain for the Red Devils and he decided to choose Maguire. This can be considered as a mistake of Solskjaer. Until the Norwegian military leader left the head coach position to make way for Ralf Rangnick, the German strategist continued to trust Maguire.

Young left MU to join Inter Milan in January 2020. Thus, up to the present time, Maguire has had more than 2 years as MU captain. Obviously, the midfielder in 1993 was given too much faith and time by Solskjaer and Rangnick.

However, after all, all Maguire has been doing as captain of the Red Devils is… proving himself that he is not good enough to wear the captain’s armband every time he plays for the team. MU.

When Maguire failed to meet expectations, the captain’s armband was forced to be transferred by the Manchester team to another player. Technically, every audience can easily see that Maguire is completely unworthy of being the MU captain.

As for bravery and spirit, the English player is not so harmless that he can only appear helpless whenever the Red Devils fall into a difficult situation. In difficult times, Maguire still knows how to exhort, motivate and urge his teammates.

However, Maguire’s bravery and fighting spirit is not big enough to be a captain and not exemplary enough for teammates to take him as a psychological fulcrum. When Maguire often makes mistakes, putting MU at a disadvantage, it is difficult to force the Red Devils players to respect and listen to the midfielder wearing the number 5 shirt.

However, it is not possible to blame Rangnick when the 63-year-old strategist let Maguire continue to hold the MU captain’s armband. Because under the contract, Rangnick only worked as the head coach of the Red Devils for 6 months and then switched to a consultant role.

Only taking on the position of captain in such a short time that Rangnick could not create prestige with his students. Besides, Rangnick came to MU to work in the middle of the 2021/22 season, so there was not enough time to reorganize the dressing room and choose a new staff for the Red Devils.

Even the Daily Mirror (UK) said that Rangnick once asked Maguire to give up the captain’s armband to Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the former Leicester City midfielder refused because he was afraid he might lose the captaincy permanently. At the moment, Rangnick can’t do anything else when the season is still unfinished, and he is also about to leave the head coach position to switch to a consultant.

However, Ten Hag is not in a difficult position like Solskjaer and Rangnick. First, Ten Hag came to MU knowing that Maguire did not deserve to be captain. Over the past 2 years, the Dutch military leader has witnessed the poor performance of the player born in 1993.

Second, Ten Hag didn’t take office mid-season like Rangnick. The 52-year-old leader comes to MU to work after the 2021/22 season ends and Ten Hag will have about 3 months in the 2022/23 pre-season to reorganize the dressing room and choose a new staff. In short, Ten Hag knew how Maguire performed with the MU captain’s armband in his hand and he had enough time to choose a new captain.

At this point, Ten Hag is the best person to strip Maguire of the captain’s armband and give it to another player. This is also the first job that Ten Hag has to do after coming to the “Theater”. The Dutch captain needs to represent the MU coaching staff to act decisively with Maguire.

Besides, the resignation of captain can also help the 29-year-old central defender partly relieve the terrible psychological pressure he is suffering. So far, Maguire has had enough time to prove himself, but he hasn’t. The player wearing the number 5 shirt cannot continue to be the captain of MU.

Now is the best time for Maguire to give up the captaincy to another team-mate and Ten Hag has been facilitated to drastically reorganize the club’s dressing room.

If not Maguire, who deserves to wear the MU captain’s armband?

The answer is Ronaldo. However, the Portuguese superstar is expected to leave MU. Thus, the most suitable person is Bruno Fernandes. Technically, the 27-year-old midfielder can drop in form at certain times. But there was a time when Bruno continuously created and scored goals to carry MU.

In terms of spirit and bravery, the player wearing the number 18 shirt cannot reach Ronaldo’s level. But Bruno wasn’t too bad at this either. Currently, the Portuguese star also holds the position of vice captain. Of course, Bruno is not the ideal type of captain. But if “comparing chopsticks, choosing a flagpole”, there is no one more suitable than the midfielder born in 1994.

Besides stripping Maguire’s captaincy, what other jobs does Ten Hag need to do when he comes to MU?

Take a look, in addition to reorganizing the dressing room, Ten Hag has 2 other important tasks to perform after coming to MU. That is to purify the squad and build gameplay. After the Liverpool 4-0 MU match (to compensate for the 30th round of the Premier League), Rangnick once mentioned the purification of the Red Devils squad.

“Definitely we will have to rebuild the team. 3, 4 rookies is not enough. In the near future, there may be 6, 7 or 8, even 10 players preparing to dock at MU,” Rangnick said. presented in the post-match interview.

MU leadership will grant Ten Hag £ 200 million at this summer’s market to upgrade the squad. The Guardian (UK) reported that the Dutch strategist embarked on this work when dividing the Red Devils force into 4 different groups.

Group 1 is the players at the peak of their careers, including Bruno, Raphael Varane and David De Gea. Group 2 is the players who are about to reach the top, including Marcus Rashford and Scott McTominay. Group 3 is the rising players, including Jadon Sancho. Finally, group 4, young talents who are considered by Ten Hag to have a bright future, include Hannibal Mejbri (19 years old), Alejandro Garnacho (17 years old) and James Garner (21 years old).

Ten Hag is also planning a transfer to MU. According to Mirror and The Sun, the players named in his plan include: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur); Declan Rice (West Ham United); Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United); Darwin Nunez (Benfica); John McGinn (Aston Villa); Jurrien Timber, Antony (Ajax Amsterdam); Enzo Fernandez (River Plate);…

Mirror also said, Ten Hag told MU leadership about Cristiano Ronaldo not in his long-term plans. The 52-year-old military leader will have to balance his spending to bring in players that match his style of play.

It is an active attacking style, controlling and deploying the ball sequentially from the bottom line. Ten Hag’s Ajax hit the ball fast based on direct passes. The players are often allowed by him to swap positions, play flexibly to create virtual variables in the attack. When losing the ball, Ajax will press with high intensity but also defend in an organized manner.

Collectively, both tasks of purifying, upgrading the squad and conveying the philosophy of football to the players will cost Ten Hag a lot of time and effort. Not only does it take a lot of time, the strategist born in 1970 also needs the support and trust of the leadership and MU fans.