Could Manchester United Lose Their Early Season Momentum?

SportsMoney Could Manchester United Lose Their Early Season Momentum? Sam Pilger Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I cover the Premier League and European football Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 18, 2022, 05:27am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 04: Antony of Manchester United celebrates with team mates Scott .

. . [+] McTominay and Marcus Rashford after scoring during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal FC at Old Trafford on September 04, 2022 in Manchester, England.

(Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) Getty Images On Sunday afternoon Manchester United should have been hosting Leeds United in a Premier League fixture at Old Trafford. But earlier this week the game was postponed after Greater Manchester Police decided they did not have enough officers for the game, with significant numbers being committed to helping at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London the following day. The fixture was also designated a Category A game, which required more officers as it is deemed high-risk because of the clubs’s rivalry.

On this weekend when 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs are in action United’s players will be taking part in a training session, or sitting at home. This weekend’s postponement was even more unfortunate as United’s game last Sunday against Crystal Palace was also called off, along with all football across the country, as a mark of respect following the death of the Queen three days earlier. Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag during a training session at the Aon Training Complex, .

. . [+] Greater Manchester.

Picture date: Wednesday September 14, 2022. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images After this weekend the Premier League takes an unusually early week-long break for international fixtures because of the forthcoming mid-season World Cup in Qatar. This means United will not play a Premier League game for nearly a month; their last one was against Arsenal on September 4, and their next one is not until October 2 when they travel the short distance to Manchester City.

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TOPSHOT – Manchester United’s English striker Jadon Sancho (C) celebrates after scoring the opening . . .

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No use in betting publications, games or single club/league/player publications. (Photo by PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images) AFP via Getty Images This run helped United climb from the bottom of the table to fifth, and they would have got even closer to the summit with wins over Crystal Palace and Leeds. Ten Hag has been building something impressive, quickly discovering what works best for him, which players he can trust and which players he isn’t as keen on.

In this period there have been two Europa League games, a home defeat to Real Sociedad and an away victory to Sheriff Tiraspol, but Ten Hag will ultimately be judged on how he performs in the far more demanding Premier League. There is, however, a strong argument to suggest Ten Hag and his players could actually benefit from this unexpected Premier League shutdown. Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony and Lisandro Martinez during a training session at the .

. . [+] Aon Training Complex, Greater Manchester.

Picture date: Wednesday September 14, 2022. (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images via Getty Images) PA Images via Getty Images Those four victories had already given Ten Hag some breathing space, and so he could now treat this time as another pre-season, which allows him to stage extra training sessions and really impose his ideas on his squad. From United’s six summer signings only one of them, Tyrell Malacia, had a full pre-season, so this time now provides the others, particularly Casemiro and Antony, with more time to settle at the club and be briefed on what Ten Hag wants.

United might even be grateful for this period of relative calm, for when they resume playing on October 2 they will be plunged into a torrid schedule of 13 games in 42 days, before club football takes a 6-week break for the World Cup in November. At the start of those fixtures next month we will soon see if United have been damaged by this shutdown, or refreshed and strengthened. Follow me on Twitter .

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