Manchester United Watch: Reguilon = answer on the left? Can Tenhach accommodate his flaws?

The new season has just begun, and Manchester United are already suffering from a wave of injuries.

Especially in the left-back position.

Malaysia has been treating a mysterious injury that has not been publicly available since pre-season, and Luke Shaw's injury not only makes him miss many games in the first half of the season, but also forces Ten Hach to make a move in this position.

He never regarded Lisandro Martinez as a full-back, nor did he think Alvaro Fernandes could already take on such a heavy responsibility, so United will need a new left-back if Dalot can only make a cameo.

In the end, Reguilon came to the fore.

Of course, he is not the only candidate for Manchester United.

From a technical and tactical point of view, Chelsea's Kucurelia is perhaps the one that Ten Hach admires the most, as he looks technically good and seems to be able to take on the role of internal collection in the time period required.

Barcelona's Marcos Alonso is also one of the candidates, his skills are actually a little more solid, because he has a lot of body, crosses and attacking tools, but he is no longer young.

So among the three, Reguilong is indeed the one with the least distinctive characteristics, but he is also the one with the most average characteristics and style, which is actually the best choice under the consideration of emergency perspective.

Especially when Manchester United need to look behind them.

That being said, Reguilon didn't have a good time last season.

He joined Atletico Madrid on loan from Tottenham last summer with a groin injury, so his Atletico debut in La Liga didn't take place until November.

Simeone is a relatively conservative coach tactically, and once the main framework is determined, it is very difficult for players to change the order, not to mention that Reguilon joined on loan, and almost spent the first half of the season recovering from injury, which is even more difficult.

However, just as Reguilon was gradually getting some opportunities after the World Cup, the redness after a substitute appearance directly eroded Simeone's patience, which brought Reguilon's next appearance directly to the end of April.

Throughout the 2022-23 season, Reguilon made just 11 appearances for Atletico, with only two starts, both of which occurred at the end of the season, when the big picture was set.

So, this won't be the year Reguilon wants to experience it all over again.

But for Manchester United fans, these two starters can reflect some of Reguilon's look.

Last season's Atletico Madrid, the main focus was a three-back system, so Reguilon played more of a left-wing-back role, the defensive task is not heavy, but it is responsible for opening the width and providing speed, so when the team has the ball, his pop-up speed is fast, but behind him is often used by opponents:

It's not Reguilon's problem, it's Atletico's problem.

Against Villarreal, against Villarreal, he faced Chukuuzze, who had already moved to AC Milan, on the wing, and Reguilon's defensive performance was okay:

This time the foot is very precise:

There are also shots of grabbing and interception during the game:

After the upper grab, the ball is advanced, and then distributed to the teammates on the wing, this series of operations is very routine, but from these pictures can also be seen that Reguilon does have a certain lower limit in terms of body.

As a full-back, speed can be said to be an essential element, 178cm is not tall, but his bounce is good, so he can't see the disadvantage when competing for the top, and he is not afraid to use power to win more advantages for himself:

This is a rare trait among the small Spanish full-backs, and it was during such a high-altitude ball competition that he received a second yellow card against Almeria and turned red:

And his first yellow card of the game was eaten for playing against teammate Hermoso:

If you think Ten Hach has always admired players with big tempers, Reguilon does fit that point.

And as a Spanish player, Reguilon's basic skills online:

It can also output a little technology in a tight environment:

But when technical accuracy needs to be really tested, such as this kind of pass that requires less accuracy and force error, his technique is not good enough:

So on the offensive end, he can provide impact and above-level passes in counter-attacks:

Some simple cooperation with teammates can be played in local areas:

The good thing is that the crosses are not narrow-minded, the eyes can not only see the high points in the box, and can do some basic analysis before getting up to get to some better positions:

In addition, under the cultivation and transformation of Conte, Reguilon will not be fixed on the outside line when inserting in the front, and there is also a lot of time to impact the ribs:

And when attacking on the other side, he also has a strong sense of outflanking from the weak side:

Of course, after all, he is a defender, and his shooting accuracy cannot be harsh, and the consumption of opponents can be formed is the high ceiling that he can play at this stage:

All of the above are Reguilon's strengths, and it can be seen that the advantages are basically shown in the ball and attack, and there is a reason why he cannot cross the bottleneck in development, no matter where he cannot sit in the main full-back position.

This reason can be seen on the defensive end.

We mentioned earlier that Reguilon's speed and body are not bad, and he spares no effort in the scramble:

This can all help on the defensive end, but in terms of awareness, Reguilon still has obvious room for improvement.

The constant problem for defenders is to find balance between the ball and space.

As the side that moves passively most of the time, the defender is at a natural disadvantage against attacking players, especially considering the winning rate of wingers against full-backs on one-on-one.

Wingers can try to eat full-backs over and over again, because they may win the game if they win once, but full-backs can't put themselves in this unprofitable gamble, so they always need to judge first:

Can I defend this person in a one-on-one? Can I defend this person in this one-on-one? If not, when do I have to shift my focus from the ball to the space I need to guard?

It is at this point that Reguilon still falls short.

Reflected on the pitch, that is, he believes that he can be one step ahead of others many times, so he looks a little presumptuous, and even exposes the space behind him:

This may stem from his confidence in his physical fitness, his belief that he is faster than others, but that if he misjudges, there may be greater danger.

So this happens more often during periods when he gets consecutive appearances, when he has more confidence and is based on more positive physical feedback.

And when he is in a rare opportunity to play, or when he is recovering from injury, his defensive thinking will be conservative, and when he needs to be in place, he will leave himself a step, resulting in the problem of slackness:

The latter two shots took place against Elche, his second game for Atletico, and the previous defensive performance came against Real Sociedad and Villarreal, his only two starts, and before that, he had come off the bench in four consecutive matches.

So in the end, Reguilon, as a player who has Real Madrid youth training experience, is young and strong and is not afraid of confrontation, and has played for many big clubs, but his career seems to be turbulent, in fact, it is because of some shortcomings in ability and inconsistent performance.

Like many players who rely on their bodies to play, when he performs well, when he can make up for his shortcomings, it is when he is in good physical condition and the feedback signal is positive.

At that time, he will use his body more freely, and his feet and judgments will be more accurate, which will produce too much self-confidence, resulting in the phenomenon of defensive recklessness, after all, he is only 26 years old, and he is not very experienced.

And when his physical condition is average, the lack of awareness and experience can not help him make up for his shortcomings, can not help him pull his performance back to the average baseline, this kind of player's mentality fluctuations will be great, lack of confidence will aggravate all this, so the performance will naturally not be much better.

So, what he needs is a team that can tolerate his underperformance, whether he plays well or not, and give him enough time and space to adjust and regain his confidence in this environment to play well.

However, the real giants will not give him such an environment, and conversely, his technical ability is not high enough to allow the giants to give him such an environment.

This is the difficulty Reguilon, but not the problem that Manchester United need to solve.

As a short-term loan option, and considering that Manchester United also have the option to terminate the loan in the winter window, for Manchester United, Reguilon is to help the team solve the short-term manpower problem. The problem is solved, and it all ends.

So in this deal, the club has a good initiative. If you don't play well, when Luke Shaw and others return from injury, everyone can part ways and play well enough that everyone can sit together and continue to discuss the future.

However, every game is important for a team that needs to compete for the league and qualify for the Champions League, so Ten Hach and the coaching staff also need to use Reguilon, fill in the holes with him, and let him not create more holes.

In the previous tactical system, Manchester United's left-back fell more in the central midfield, especially when the ball was played, and the central field needed to be received inside to help the ball, while the right-back had more forward insertion and assist duties.

Although Reguilon is a Spanish player, it is clear that he will not be much better if he is used to take on the duties of adduction and helping the midfield.

So with Reguilon, it's better to let him come on as an assist full-back, his speed and fundamentals can come into play in these times, and the snatching trait can also help when losing possession and pressing high.

And his awareness of ribbed interspersion also works well with Marcus Rashford, who may want to return to the left winger position in the near future.

At the end of the day, it's a better idea to use him to release the pressure, create extra wear on the opponent, and then try to use his physicality to help Casemiro and Lisandro Martinez.

If he is used as a left-back, Reguilon could bring additional confusion in midfield, mentally unable to really relieve Lisandro Martinez and unable to show his abilities.

Of course, no matter what kind of use he can do, he can definitely help Lisandro Martinez better than Cucurella and Alonso, after all, the physical condition is here.

If, ideally, Reguilon plays as an assist full-back and becomes the man to help attack in the midfield, then United's system needs to change a bit.

Previously, left-backs were closed in the back in order to let Mount/Erikson go up to attack, so if Reguilon went up and Wan-Bissaka stayed in front, then a midfielder was needed to fall back and form a more conventional and reasonable, which was more common in previous years, which was that one of the backs was tucked into the back line and pushed two full-backs up.

If Manchester United did not have this condition, at least after the transfer window closes, it can all be imagined.

So whether Reguilon can be the first domino in United's tactical change is more interesting than the player Reguilon himself.