Manchester United's players have gone the furthest in the World Cup by their main centre-back partners, France's Varane and Argentina's Lisandro Martinez, both reaching the final and will fight for the Hercules Cup on Sunday. This will inevitably delay their return to Carrington's training centre, with the club giving each international at least a week off after the tournament. For the rest of the year, Ten Hag may have to choose to use a substitute centre-back.
It would be unwise to recall World Cup internationals immediately. Players who win championships and want to go home to celebrate; Losers need time to calm their disappointment, losing football's most important game. So Varane and Lima are unlikely to return until United's first game against Nottingham Forest after the Premier League resumes on 27 December.
The Manchester Evening News predicts that Manchester United's two main centre-backs this season may not only miss Nottingham Forest, but may also miss the match with Wolves before the New Year. Luckily, the two teams are not strong and are relegated zone teams, and goalkeeper Dean Henderson, who the Reds loaned to Forest, will not be able to play. But Manchester United cannot be taken lightly, as Liverpool were beaten by Jesse Lingard's Forest upset.
If Varane and Lima hang up the no-fight card, Ten Hag will only be able to use Maguire and Lindelof's Solskjaer's era partner. The Manchester United captain has played well at the World Cup and Ten Hag has challenged him to fight hard for a starting spot and replicate his performance at England.
Ten Hag candidly pointed out that Maguire's poor performance and lack of confidence in the past period at Manchester United may be due to pressure or the club's style of play that has prevented the 29-year-old from playing at the level of the international team.
The Manchester United boss said: "I chose Rafael [Varane] not for Harry [Harry [Harry Maguire], sometimes because a player is far better than his team-mates. Harry clearly has the ability to stand at the highest level, but he had a period of poor performances at United and then naturally ran into trouble. At England, he always performed well in every game. We want him to bring that performance back to Manchester United and show it in the club game."
Lindelöf, who did not play in the World Cup, was more consistent at United, but was often blasted by opponents for his lack of aggression in defence. In United's two warm-up games in Spain, Lindelöf's defensive line often watched the opponent complete the cooperation and break through the defense and score goals.
The £100 million centre-back combination of Harry Maguire and Lindelöf was the manager's preferred centre-back for a long time, including for much of last season, when Varane was in full swing but was unable to play consistently due to injuries. However, the pair of humming two players on the central defensive line of Manchester United has left fans and goalkeeper David De Gea with the psychological shadow of being dominated by their opponents.
Ten Hag has only started Harry Maguire and Lindelöf twice this season, including a 1-0 defeat at home to Real Sociedad in the Europa League and a League Cup win over Aston Villa. Nottingham Forest and Wolves may both have the confidence to fight for upset when they get their rosters for both appearances.
Fortunately, Manchester United's Portugal international Diogu Darlo suffered a hamstring injury in the World Cup defeat to Morocco and may also miss the games ahead of the New Year. In this way, United's defensive personnel could be composed of Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire and Luke Shaw, a direct return to the Solskjaer era.
Ten Hag could also have the option of having Dutch left-back Tyrell Malasia play on the right flank, but with a visit to Fulham in the final round of the Premier League before the World Cup, Malaysia became a weak point in attack, and the Red Devils were able to win thanks to Alejandro Garnacho's stoppage-time saver and De Gea's previous saves.
Manchester United predicted next Premier League starters: De Gea/Wan-Bissaka (or Malaysia), Lindelof, Maguire, Luke Shaw/Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro, Eriksen/Anthony, Martial, Marcus Rashford.