Opinion: 5 Most Improved Manchester United Players This Season

This season, under new manager Erik Ten Hag, Manchester United have arguably been at their strongest since the departure of Alex Ferguson. After a long, dark era, United finally seem to be on the rise again – but who has been the most improved player at the club?

Ten Hag has made some crucial additions to his squad. However, it would be unfair to ignore those already in the team who have really upped their game this season – here’s a look at five of them.

We’re not looking at youngsters who’ve been promoted to the senior team this year – we’re only looking at senior team players who have shown signs of improvement.

Luke Shaw

Luke Shaw is enjoying a much more fruitful campaign than he did last year. In 2021/22, Shaw suffered from a series of injuries that kneecapped his season, limiting him to just 18 starts.

This season, Shaw has been able to play far more consistently, to United’s benefit. The former Southampton academy man has been defensively strong on the flanks and has also popped up with a goal and two assists so far.

Aged 27, Shaw is approaching his physical prime. Theoretically, he’s only going to get better over the next couple of years – will he keep his place in the team? It certainly looks like the England international will remain first choice for both his club and country for some time to come.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s time at Manchester United looked to be over a couple of months ago, with Ten Hag seemingly happy for him to leave. Since then, however, the former Crystal Palace defender has demonstrated his value to the squad.

An injury to first choice right back Diogo Dalot meant that Wan-Bissaka would get another chance in the first team. Keen to impress and shut up his naysayers, he took the opportunity and reminded everyone just how brilliant he is at defending.

Granted, he will never be a world-class attacking full back. Defensively, however, the 25-year-old is next to impossible to get past and guards his flank ferociously.

Diogo Dalot

Here’s the player who usurped Wan-Bissaka’s place in the team – Dalot didn’t look great upon his arrival at Old Trafford, but has since become one of the league’s leading full backs.

Solid defensively and excellent going forward, Dalot has exceeded the expectations of most United fans this season – he hasn’t scored any goals, but he does have two assists to his name in the Premier League.

Dalot featured heavily during United’s poor run at the end of last season, leading many to believe he was part of the problem – in reality, he was part of the solution.

Fred

Fred was once seen as one of the Premier League’s greatest big money flops – in truth, he’s never really lived up to the hype, but he’s far from a bad player especially coming off the bench.

The Brazilian livewire has bags of energy – when used in his primary role of box-to-box midfielder, he can be an effective presence in the middle of the park even though his recent performance against Leeds United left many fans criticising him.

While not the most precise passer, nor the strongest tackler, Fred’s limitless stamina makes him a very useful player to have in the team. He’s an excellent foil for more creative players, such as Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen.

Marcus Rashford

This season, Marcus Rashford has broken yet another ceiling. He’s finally settled into his role as an inside forward, bringing a glut of goals with it.

So far this season, Rashford has scored 11 goals and racked up three assists. This completely eclipses his goal tally from last season, where he scored four goals in 25 Premier League games.

He has scored in every competition that United have played in this season, as well as the Premier League – three in the Europa League, one in the FA Cup and five in the League Cup.