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THEY were the best Ajax team since Louis van Gaal’s mid 90s outfit that landed a Champions League title.That team featured the de Boer twins Ronald and Frank, Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars, Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids at the heart of midfield and more.Ajax’s class of 2019 won admirers in 2019 for their football in EuropeCredit: AFP or licensorsFrenkie de Jong and Donny van de Beek were two stars of that young Ajax teamErik ten Hag was their manager and tipped to become a coaching greatCredit: GettyBut the spirit of those incredible talents seemed to resonate through the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek, Hakimn Ziyech, and Andre Onana.Led by up-and-coming manager Erik ten Hag, they played some of the best football in Europe during the 2018-19 season.Domestically, they went double Dutch – winning both the league and cup.While in the Champions League, they earned plenty of admirers for destroying Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernabeu in the Round of 16 and beating Juventus in Turin in the quarter-finals.Read more football news Their journey ended in the semis, after losing on away goals to Tottenham.As is almost always the case, Europe’s top dogs cherry-picked Ajax’s best talent – paying huge fees.De Jong went to Barcelona for £65million, de Ligt to Juventus for £75million, and manager ten Hag was hired to bring his flair to an ailing Man Utd team.However, as that team disbanded the worst was to come for those promising youngsters, and their boss.Most read in FootballSo, where did all go wrong?The kids’Something seriously wrong!’ Ex-Prem ref reacts to huge Man Utd call which saw Erik Ten Hag sackedForget the old saying, ‘You won’t win anything with kids.’ This Ajax team did, and they swept most teams before them.Steadied by Daley Blind at the back, who struggled in the Premier League with Man Utd, they had a youthful vibrance about them.De Ligt, the recipient of the 2018 Golden Boy trophy given to the best player under 21, was the first-ever defender to ever win the award.De Jong had plenty of swagger, controlling possession in the midfield and driving the tempo of the side.Astonishing stats from December to February of that campaign showed that De Jong had completed 354 of his 390 passes, while making 53 ball recoveries.That prompted former Dutch international Rafael van der Vaart to call De Jong the best player in Europe with the ball at his feet.Cameroon goalie Onana – who came through the Ajax academy – was also excelling himself between the sticks as a carbon copy of Edwin van der Sar with his handling and distribution praised.In Donny van der Beek they had a playmaker who starred in the No10 role and was drawing comparisons with Dennis Bergkamp.Moroccan Hakim Ziyech also provided a threat on the wing, in what was a breakthrough season that saw him score 22 goals in all competitions.Alongside Dusan Tadic, goals were flying in everywhere – testament to that was the 119 goals in 34 league games, and the four that shook the Bernabeu in that famous Champions League massacre.Frenkie de Jong opitimized that Ajax team – playing with plenty of swaggerCredit: Getty – ContributorHakim Ziyech was a huge goal threat from the wingCredit: Getty – ContributorPlaymaker Donny van de Beek drew comparisons to Dutch legend Dennis BergkampCredit: Getty – Contributorread more sport featuresThe managerThey were led by the emerging ten Hag, who grew up on a diet of a Johan Cruyff’s Ajax and Barcelona teams and studied Pep Guardiola, who he worked alongside at Bayern Munich.He once revealing of his Spanish mentor: “Every day I get to work with him, I look forward to it. He inspires me.”On the wall of his modest office at the club’s De Toekomst training ground ten Hag hung photos of past greats Cruyff, van Gaal, and Rinus Michels.An ode to history that would act as a basis for his own thoughts.The club would play a free-flowing 4-2-3-1 formation – it wasn’t total football but it was an organised chaos.His approach to training was player mentality focused. Ten Hag would note down how each individual responds to minor errors, losing the ball or committing a foul.Then, he would pick a team based on the mentality of his team and the opponent they were facing.It was the manager who decided to address the balance of youth and experience by bringing in Blind and Tadic. A masterstroke, if ever there was one.Ajax manager Erik ten Hag led Ajax to plenty of success during his tenureFresh faced ten Hag’s methods focused around team mentalityWhat happened nextIn 2019, that Ajax team mostly disbanded. A combination of lofty ambitions, and Europe’s top clubs descending upon the Dutch giants like vultures to a dead carcass, saw its two best youngsters de Ligt and de Jong depart for pastures new.De Ligt would move to Juventus for £75million, with legendary Marcelo Lippi lauding his ability and comparing him to Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, and Alessandro Nesta.He would struggle to adapt to Italian football, and came under fire for lapses of concentration and occasional errors.Playing a zonal marking system under Maurizio Sarri also didn’t suit his attribute of being a man-marker.Three seasons later, he was sold to Bayern Munich for another huge fee – around £56million.Again, he struggled. Injuries didn’t help, as well as a strained relationship with Thomas Tuchel who reportedly didn’t like the way he played the ball out of defence slowly.Two years later, the jury is out whether the £42.7million Man Utd have spent on him will help rediscover his and his club’s fortunes. It hasn’t been perfect so far.De Jong’s transfer to Barcelona came at a time when the club were heading for financial ruin.Matthijs de Ligt is now at Man Utd after unsuccessful stints at Juventus and Bayern MunichCredit: EPAFrenkie de Jong has reiterated his desire to stay at Barcelona for nowCredit: GettyIn fits and spurts he’s shown his qualities, but not in the way the club’s fans have hoped.While it may be unfair to call him a flop, the club have certainly seen him as surplus to requirements in the past.To ease their economic concerns, de Jong was offered to Man Utd in 2022. The deal reportedly fell through due to personal terms, but his situation has seemingly changed under new manager Hansi Flick and he is happier.Van de Beek suffered the biggest career collapse of them all, but is credibly rebuilding himself at Girona.He was bombed out of Old Trafford in 2024 for £500,000 to the Spanish club, after unsuccessful loans at Everton and Eintracht Frankfurt.United’s £40million investment went down the pan there, with the midfielder scoring just twice in 62 games. Even ten Hag couldn’t get a tune out of him.Ziyech, who left in 2020 for Chelsea for £37million, also couldn’t rediscover his goalscoring touch that made him so feared in Amsterdam.His bad luck continued after the Blues submitted the wrong documents on transfer deadline day in 2023, blocking a loan deal to PSG.A move to Al Nassr to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo collapsed, when the Saudi Arabian giants withdrew their contract offer after a reported failed medical, which he later denied.He’s now with Galatasaray, after finally leaving in the summer but seems to be a shadow of the player he once was.Donny van de Beek seems to have rediscovered his love for playing at GironaCredit: GettyHakim Ziyech has landed at Galatasaray after failed moves to PSG and Al NassrCredit: GettyWhat next for ten Hag after he was sacked by Man Utd?Following a nine-month ban from the game for a doping scandal, Onana restored faith in his abilities by starring at Inter Milan and guiding them to the 2023 Champions League final.United paid £47.2million for him, and although he struggled last season, there are signs of improvement.READ MORE SUN STORIESAs for ten Hag, he has now been pushed from the Man Utd hot seat – sacked after two seasons that brought a League Cup and FA Cup, but just an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League last season and a worst-ever start to this term.You better believe it, the curse of Ajax’s 2019 world beaters is very real. 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ERIK TEN HAG answered some of his doubters after Manchester United came from behind to beat Brenford 2-1 last weekend.Goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund, assisted by Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes respectively, secured victory for the Red Devils.Alejandro Garnacho’s volley from Marcus Rashford’s cross set Man Utd on their way to victory over BrentfordCredit: GettyAnd it may also set United down a new path for the season with particular benefits to Rashford and GarnachoCredit: GettyGarnacho and Rashford’s Premier League stats comparedAnd the Red Devils then followed that up with a 1-1 draw away at Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.United were generally dominant against Thomas Frank’s tricky Bees, particularly in the second half.Ten Hag opted to switch up his team selection for the game, which could be the trigger for a rebirth after a tricky start to the season.This was seen with Garnacho deployed on the left wing and Rashford on the right, despite Rashford previously saying he preferred to be on the left rather than in the middle or on the right.READ MORE IN FOOTBALLAnd in the Fenerbahce came, Ten Hag continued with the two players in their new roles, though started Joshua Zirkzee up front instead of Rasmus Hojlund.It is easy to make the argument that Garnacho and Rashford should be interchangeable in terms of their position on the wings due to being right-footers who prefer to drive inside towards goal.But that is not strictly the case, and it seems Ten Hag has made a clear statement about how they can both add value to the attack in those specific roles.In this article, we will take a closer look at the role of the two United attacking players in the match against Brentford and discuss how this could see United set up for the rest of the season.Most read in FootballBEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERSGarnacho as the threat on the counterWhen we think of the truly great United teams of the last 20-30 years, we do not think of teams that look to dominate possession of the ball. Instead, we think of teams that were truly great and extremely difficult to play against in counter-attacking situations, or, in the more modern term, in transition. Man Utd’s Brentford Comeback: Player Ratings They traditionally excelled when it came to winning the ball back in their half of the pitch and then hitting the opposition quickly on the counter. This is why they tended to have wide attackers who were quick and direct in the mould of Ryan Giggs or even the early version of Cristiano Ronaldo.This is where Garnacho thrives. He is something of a throwback as a wide-attacking player because he thrives in moments when there is space to attack in front of him and where he can use his pace and direct running to hurt the opposition. There is an argument to be made this is what we thought Rashford would become when he first came through at United, but he has developed into a more controlled player who likes to receive the ball in front of the opposition as opposed to constantly making runs to attack space behind the defensive line.Here, we see Rashford out wide on the right able to pick a pass to Garnacho with space on the left sideGiven that Garnacho models his game on Ronaldo it should come as no surprise that the young Argentinian is extremely dangerous when receiving the ball with these kinds of spaces to attack.He is far less likely to want to drop off to receive the ball from his defenders and midfielders, and he wants to play on the shoulder of the last defender, therefore giving United a constant outball and threat in behind.Before the Brentford match, he was averaging four shots per 90 minutes but took eight alone against the Bees. He was also managing just 7.4 touches in the opposition penalty area, before having ten against Brentford.This time Rasmus Hojlund drops deep before looking to pick out Garnacho in spaceStraight away we see the increased outputs that come from playing Garnacho in a position that suits him better.Garnacho is an extremely exciting player who needs space to attack when he receives the ball to be at his best. Playing from the left-side seems to give Garnacho just that.Rashford as a more creative playerMarcus Rashford’s Premier League statsWhen Rashford made his breakthrough many thought the club had unearthed their next big striker and that he looked ready, technically and physically, to play as the main star for the next decade.Instead, we have seen Rashford become a high-level wide attacker, though last season there was a notable dip in form with a heavily reduced output from the 30 goals he got the season before.Despite being clear that he preferred to play from the left side of the attack, the switch to the right side may actually be really beneficial to the 60-cap England star.In the match against Brentford, we saw Rashford moving inside from the right wing to take up more central positions in the channels as Diogo Dalot moved high and provided width from right-back. Rashford received the ball inside in the channel and in a deeper area than typical of him before crossing for Garnacho to scoreThis movement and more central occupation of space actually saw Rashford get on the ball far more in the final third than we may have been used to seeing.In these more central positions, Rashford is still a threat to take the ball on the turn and to attack forward and into space. He is also, however, a creative threat with the ability to take the ball in tight areas and when under pressure and to link the play or find angles to play passes to break the last line.This showed in the data where, previous to the Brentford game, Rashford had been averaging 4.4 passes into the opposition area per 90, while he played eight of these passes in this game.Here, again, we see Rashford come inside to play more centrally and allow United to progress the ball forward as Dalot moves high and gives them widthHe had also been averaging 1.6 chances created per game but in this match he created four, showcasing his increased involvement in the build-up than what had been seen on the left previously.Using Rashford in a more creative and involved role from the right side of the attack gives United a more unpredictable yet balanced look across their attack.Both Garnacho and Rashford can attack space behind the defenceWhile it would be fair to say Garnacho had a strong game against Brentford, it was also one of the more complete and impressive performances seen from Rasmus Hojlund since his arrival.The Dane has an excellent physical profile and that was put to perfect use in this match as we saw him continually look to drop deep into the midfield to receive the ball. These movements from Hojlund dragged one of the Brentford defenders out of position over and over again, and these spaces were then free to be exploited by United. This is where having two wide attackers who have explosive pace, like Rashford and Garnacho, comes into play as they are able to make runs from out to in to attack this space.Hojlund dropping in to receive the pass from the midfield opens up space for Garnacho behind the defenceHojlund is capable of dropping into deeper areas and receiving to turn and play the ball forward.But he can also receive the ball and then quickly link with creative central midfielders who can then play forward and into advanced positions. And he is then equally capable when asked to play on the shoulder himself, as seen with his lovely chipped finish for the winner. With the capability of Garnacho and Rashford to time their runs to attack the space this can create dangerous situations for United.Hojlund drops in to receive the ball with his back to goal before both Rashford and Garnacho split and run in behindIn having both Rashford and Garnacho playing in this manner and threatening to attack space behind and between the opposition defenders, we will see United setting up in a similar way to Jurgen Klopp’s best team at Liverpool.His title-winning side saw Roberto Firmino dropping deep to receive and Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane making diagonal runs to attack space, which proved very effective for all parties involved.READ MORE SUN STORIESConclusionWhile Rashford may not prefer to play from the right, his positional intelligence, creative passing and link play on the ball showed a new layer of his game.When you combine this with the pace and directness of Garnacho on the left side, it is fair to say that Ten Hag may have unearthed a combination that can drive United up the Premier League table. 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