Man United’s Players Ranked From Best to Worst This Season

Manchester United made it into the FA Cup final over the weekend but still managed to plunge to new lows in their Wembley meeting with Coventry City. The Red Devils needed a penalty shoot-out to get over the line having blown a three-goal lead in regulation time.

Coventry were denied a famous victory when Victor Torp’s 121st-minute strike was ruled out for the most marginal of offsides, and United went on to win the shoot-out 4-2, despite Casemiro missing the first spot-kick of the shootout.

It has been a thoroughly disappointing campaign for United, with very few players doing themselves justice throughout the season. Below, we’ve ranked Ten Hag’s players from best to worst this season.

The Performers

Garnacho and Mainoo have shone while Onana and Maguire bounced back

Kobbie Mainoo has undoubtedly been the breakout star of the campaign for United. Erik ten Hag earmarked the midfielder for a first-team role last summer but a serious ankle injury sustained in pre-season delayed his arrival on the biggest stage. Mainoo announced himself at senior level with a remarkable full debut against Everton last November and has gone from strength to strength since, with memorable moments against Wolves and Liverpool on the way.

Diogo Dalot has been United’s most dependable defender, while Andre Onana has recovered from a horror start to his United career to emerge as one of the plus points of the season for the Red Devils. Alejandro Garnacho was in the headlines for the wrong reasons last week but he has enjoyed a progressive campaign, with nine goals in all competitions including braces against Aston Villa, West Ham and Chelsea.

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Harry Maguire has performed consistently to salvage his reputation after a couple of seasons in which he was the team’s scapegoat, while Rasmus Hojlund has shown enough potential to suggest he could be a long-term fit at the tip of their attack.

Scott McTominay should not be starting regularly for United but he has proved to be a goal threat this season, with 10 strikes to his name. Bruno Fernandes has not enjoyed his best season but his work rate is unmatched and he remains a key part of United’s team.

The Middlers

Amad provided moment of the season but has barely figured

This section is reserved for players who have not performed particularly well but also haven’t disgraced themselves. Luke Shaw, Jonny Evans and Raphael Varane have all endured injury affected campaigns, and that is the main reason they do not rank higher up. All three are dependable performers when available but they just haven’t been available often enough.

Amad has not featured too often but he looked bright against Coventry and scored the most euphoric goal of United’s season against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Aaron Wan-Bissaka has dipped of late to drop down the rankings, while young defender Willy Kambwala has encouraged during the early stages of his career but recently struggled against Bournemouth.

Victor Lindelof, Christian Eriksen, Sergio Reguilon, Hannibal Mejbri, Omari Forson and Facundo Pellistri are the unnotables who make up the Middlers section of the list.

The Underperformers

Rashford and Casemiro among strugglers

After a brilliant 2022-23 campaign Marcus Rashford has regressed beyond recognition this term. He is still yet to reach double figures for goals having plundered 30 last season. He was booed off against Coventry and some fans want to see him gone.

Mason Mount and Lisandro Martinez shouldn’t be tagged ‘underperformers’ but the amount of time they have been unavailable for this season has been so frustrating for United. Mount has managed just 674 minutes of game time, while Martinez has been on the pitch for 761 minutes.

Antony, on the other hand, is a serial underperformer and perhaps the greatest Premier League flop signing of all-time. Casemiro is the only player who has regressed as much as Rashford, while Sofyan Amrabat’s tackle on Kylian Mbappe at the 2022 World Cup is a distant memory now.

Rounding off the list of United’s underperformers is Anthony Martial. A career that promised so much but delivered so little, Martial, currently injured, will never play for United again.

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