Daley Blind can be Ten Hag's secret weapon as he plans Manchester United full-back overhaul

Erik Ten Hag faces a conundrum as to how to resolve Manchester United’s problems with their full-backs. United’s quartet of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw and Alex Telles have failed to impress this season, both going forward and defensively.

Ten Hag, however, could implement a system somewhat familiar to United. At Ajax, former United man Daley Blind and Noussair Mazraoui take turns to become advanced playmakers.

When one joins the attack, the other tucks into to aid the defence. This philosophy gets the full-backs involved in goal scoring and chance creation.

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In all competitions this season, left back Blind and right back Mazaroui have an impressive seven goals and seven assists combined. The attacking full-back creates another man in attack for Ajax and stretches the pitch for their opponents.

This is a system like the one deployed by Ole Gunnar Solskjær in the 2020/21 season. As that season progressed, Shaw showcased his attacking ability, picking up five assists and a goal across the course of the campaign.

Wan-Bissaka was more renowned for his defensive qualities, but he managed four assists too, along with two goals. It seemed that United had found a good balance.

Though Wan-Bissaka was limited at carrying the ball forward, he excelled at one-on-one defending. Shaw was more comfortable in attacking areas, evidenced further in his goal for England at the Euro 2020 final.

This season, of course, the form of Wan-Bissaka and Shaw has dipped significantly. Furthermore, Dalot and Telles have struggled to particularly impress either.

If United are to be moulded into an attacking, possession-based team, having full-backs