With United enjoying a largely positive preseason, on Sunday we will see how well Erik ten Hag’s principles translate to competitive Premier League football.

But what we have seen so far from the Dutchman at United? And how we can expect his team to play this season?

Third man runs

Before a ball was kicked in anger, we had already seen one of the core tenets of Ten Hag’s style drilled into the players when the first videos out of Carrington began to surface, right back at the start of July.

Shouts of “look for the third man run!” were repeated by the new boss as he had the team exchange quick one-twos and practice precise lay-offs.

Third man runs are among the most basic concepts in football, in which two players exchange passes so as to open up space for another player to exploit. It being basic does not make it any less effective, nor any more easy to pull off at the pace Ten Hag demands.

Often used as a means to progress the ball up the pitch, third man runs were used to devastating effect against Liverpool in the Bangkok 4-0. In keeping the ball moving quickly, with one-and-two-touch play, Jurgen Klopp’s famed “Gegenpress” was unable to disrupt United’s quick transitions.

The extreme focus on third man run drills has the added benefit of making players more comfortable in settled possession, as they become used to making quick decisions in the search for space on the pitch.

That was on show against Melbourne Victory, where the Red Devils faced a different challenge in breaking down a relative minnow’s side who had gone ahead with an early goal.

Patient and precise, United carved out four goals in that match too.

Man-oriented pressing structure

In Bangkok, Klopp lamented his team’s inability to cope with United’s “man-marking, especially in midfield.” However, Ten Hag was quick to clarify: “I wouldn’t say it was man-marking. We like to press all day.”

Broadly, there are two variations of pressure and counterpressure: ball-oriented and man-oriented. In a ball-oriented press, the opponent in possession is the reference point for a press, with multiple players closing down the ball carrier from various angles in order to limit options and force a turnover.

Man-oriented pressing still involves harrying the ball carrier, but rather than four or five players closing them down, only the nearest two or three players will. The rest of the side press potential receivers, leading to a situation where the ball-carrier has two problems: (1) They have no time on the ball, and (2) They have no free passing options.

When choosing to press in a man-oriented fashion, you allow the opponent space to play in to, essentially challenging the opponent to take advantage of that space before you can cover it. Think of Pep Guardiola’s sides – the teams they come up against often have space to play in to, but the likes of Sergio Busquets and later Fernandinho ended up racking up recoveries as they “sweep” the space their opponents try to exploit.

With a ball-oriented press (which Liverpool commonly use) because the team has the ball as a reference point, the entire team has one thing to move towards – central defenders are able to squeeze up in most situations, leading to offsides or rushed passes. This can, however, leave receivers free for passes into feet, and against technically excellent players who can pick a pass under pressure, switches of play and line-breaking passes can easily disorganise the press if it fails to impose enough pressure in the first line.

Ralf Rangnick failed to get this team playing a ball-oriented press, but Erik ten Hag has shown early signs of instilling an arguably more tactically difficult man-oriented press in his side.

Formations and player roles

In his first preseason match in charge, Ten Hag went with a fairly clear 4-2-3-1 shape featuring the double pivot of Scott McTominay and Fred.

He has since used something akin to a 4-2-3-1/4-3-3 hybrid as well as an outright 4-3-3, seemingly dependent on the opposition’s shape as much as the players available to him.

If you consider the midfield three as a triangle, oriented either as a ‘1-2’ or a ‘2-1,’ it seems that the new manager opts for the reverse of the opponent’s configuration.

That way, his players match up directly with their opponents in midfield, which allows them to be in close proximity to their opponents when a counterpressing opportunity emerges – to Jurgen Klopp, it apparently looks a lot like man-marking, as previously discussed.

We can expect United’s midfield triangle to also be somewhat informed by player availability as well, given that Christian Eriksen would presumably be more comfortable alongside Bruno Fernandes in a 4-3-3 than he would as a member of a double pivot.

Whoever plays, United are not short of eights (just sixes), meaning that they can opt for an initial 4-3-3 shape in games against teams who sit deep in their own half. That brings us on to our final point.

Aggressive rest-defence

Essentially, a rest-defence comprises of players who stay deep when their team has the ball in order to offer an option to recycle possession or to snuff out counter-attacking passes should a transition occur.

Over the last few years, many top teams (including United at times) have opted for a 3-1-6 shape in this regard, the ‘3-1’ forming the rest-defence as the ‘6’ players push up to stretch opposition backlines. Other variations include Pep Guardiola’s 3-2-5, Jurgen Klopps’s 2-3-5, the odd 2-2-6, etc, etc.

In all of those cases, the goal is to overload the opposing defence with players in the third line, while the two-line rest defence does its aforementioned job. But there aren’t many going for a 2-1-7.

But that is exactly what Ten Hag has experimented with in preseason.

Against Aston Villa in Perth, United started in a 4-3-3 formation using Fred as a single pivot ahead of the centre-backs, as the midfielders ahead of him pushed up in support of Martial, at the same time that both fullbacks got into attacking positions right up alongside their wingers.

That left Villa with a line of seven players to deal with whenever United had the ball in settled possession – a difficult overload to deal with. Meanwhile, the somewhat light ‘2-1’ rest-defence United fielded didn’t seem threatened by counterattacks, with the team as a whole clued up on how to press and slow down attacks as a unit (at least before the changes).

What did seem an issue, however, was the on-ball responsibilities of the rest-defence.

Fred was regularly caught behind Villa’s line of three narrow attacking players, unavailable for passes from Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof. When he did get on the ball, he was often unable to create space for himself to turn and pick a pass – a key responsibility of a single pivot no matter the structure.

This forced United to build through the full backs, which they did manage well enough at times. But Ten Hag has spoken of his desire to create an unpredictable side, with many attacking weapons at its disposal. Screening the holding midfielder out of the game – which should not happen so easily – kills any attempt to build through the middle.

If the kinks can be ironed out of the 2-1-7 possession structure, it will be an invaluable option against those pesky sides who like to drop a pair of number sixes into a four-man backline, as it will give United a spare man to play in.

Putting it all together

Pass and move football, a co-ordinated pressing unit, tactical flexibility, and a plan of attack for all occasions.

It might still be very early days but making all of that seem possible is exactly what Erik ten Hag has been doing with his summer.

David O’Neill