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Manchester United are once more going through a squad overhaul in a bid to build a new squad for Ruben Amorim to turn the tides on the current landscape of the club.
This is a feat the Portuguese manager achieved at Sporting Lisbon, helping the club win their first Liga Portugal title in 19 years, and now Sir Jim Ratcliffe is hoping he can do the same at Old Trafford.
INEOS have now launched “Mission 21” led by Sir Dave Brailsford, aiming to win the club’s 21st Premier League title in the next three years before the club’s 150th anniversary.
With United’s last Premier League title coming in Sir Alex Ferguson’s final year in charge in 2013, their 21st title is a long time coming.
Brailsford is focusing heavily on the performance side of the club, however, there have already been some signs of a shift in the club’s recruitment strategy.
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Manchester United recruitment shows statistical backing
The Athletic has recently highlighted a tell-tale sign of improvement in the recent transfer windows which might have been overlooked by most.
Whilst United have been accused of impulse buying over recent years, with £600 million being spent under Erik ten Hag’s regime, more of a tactical rationale is now being revealed.
It comes from United’s own reveal statements for two of their two key signings.
When United unveiled the signing of Manuel Ugarte from PSG in the summer, the announcement highlighted that over the previous two season he “averaged the second highest number of tackles per 90 minutes in Europe’s major leagues”.
Then, with United’s recent signing of Patrick Dorgu, another stat accompanied the announcement highlighting in Serie A he “won the second-most ground duels” and “attempted the fourth most take-ons of any defender”.
These insights are subtle and ease to overlook, however it demonstrated the type of data that is justifying the interest from the recruitment team.
However, with the department having been publicly criticised by Ratcliffe, it’s no surprise they are looking to prove their worth.
Speaking with United We Stand back in December, Ratcliffe commented: “We must have the best recruitment in the world. Data analysis comes alongside recruitment.”
He continued: “It doesn’t really exist here. We’re still in the last century on data analysis.”
However, the comments and claims of the department being “mediocre” could be argued as unfair given that the department was in a state of flux following the departure of director of data science Dominic Jordan, with him still yet to be replaced.
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Source: Centred Devils
