An interview with Noussair Mazraoui on playing as a No.10, Erik ten Hag's sacking, Ruben Amorim and more during his eventful first season at Man United.
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Mazraoui joined United from Bayern Munich
Mazraoui joined United from Bayern Munich
Noussair Mazraoui has cut out fizzy drinks from his diet, a self-imposed measure. He misses a soft drink at dinner and will treat himself if Manchester United win the Europa League final.
Mazraoui was the most frugal of United’s five summer signings for an up-front fee of £12.8m. He has also been the most effective.
Beyond Bruno Fernandes and Amad, Mazraoui has been the most consistent performer in the United squad. His availability has been so remarkable he required a corrective procedure after experiencing heart palpitations and did not miss a game.
“That's a long time ago, it feels like ages ago,” Mazraoui says. “Everything was just fine. It was like nothing big or huge, nothing mention-worthy.”
Mazraoui knew he had to make adjustments to his conditioning for his maiden season in English football. He feels the benefit, as much as he may miss some fizz. Mazraoui played a minimum of 40 games in only one season before he joined United. He has broken the 50 barrier this season.
Until his breather at Brentford, Mazraoui had started in 13 successive matches. He only managed 15 Bundesliga starts for Bayern last season. In the Premier League, it is more than double that. A trophy would provide a sweet finale for a player who has deprived Mazraoui’s system of sugar.
“To be honest, I'm surprised that you're telling me that I played in seven positions,” Mazraoui says. “I didn't know that.”
You can’t blame Mazraoui for not counting. For those who have been: right centre back, left centre back, right back, left back, right wing, left wing and, most curiously, as the No.10.
Rangers at home marked his sole enforced absence, through illness. Ruben Amorim has fretted about Mazraoui’s fitness in recent weeks and his importance could be gauged by his absence from the squad at Brentford.
“Being in a season where you win everything, you come into a kind of flow where you can kick me, I will not feel it,” Mazraoui shrugs. “But when you lose a lot of games, you just give me a little step on my toes and you're in a lot of pain. It's a big difference.
Mazraoui during United's Uefa media day
Mazraoui during United's Uefa media day
“It's a long season, like I said. It's the end of the season, so of course, physically, after playing so many games, I didn't do that quite often in my career, so of course you're going to feel it a little bit in the body.
“I think the biggest example is Lyon, where we were almost dead in the last ten minutes of the game. Extra time, everybody's tired and everything, and you still manage to win.”
Mazraoui has ping-ponged from right to left this season and his activity during United’s Europa League media day is similar. Mazraoui has to walk the breadth of the Stretford End to fulfil media engagements on Wednesday, inside and outside.
By the time he stops to speak for an interview scheduled for 1pm, it is nearly 3.45pm. That is the sheer demand for one of United’s ever-presents.
Mazraoui has had a fine first season at United
Mazraoui has had a fine first season at United
As one of the interviewees for the final, Mazraoui is a certainty to start. It is still unclear where yet the spate of centre back injuries suggest he would be a logical inclusion at right centre back.
His relocation there could be permanent next season. “I have some qualities which fit perfectly with the position,” he explains. “Like in the right centre-back, I really like to go forward with the ball. So in the build-up and break the lines, that's something I can do good. So I'm comfortable on the ball.
“But it's not like attacking as wing back. And wing back, a lot of times you come in a right wing position. For that, you really need like Amad one-v-one skill. That's maybe not my biggest strength.
“So on both positions, you know some good points and some points which you feel like, ‘okay, maybe it's better to play in another position’.”
Mazraoui has played in seven positions this season
Mazraoui has played in seven positions this season
Like everyone, Mazraoui suffered teething issues in Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system. Mazraoui was recruited as a specialist right back capable of filling in on the left and, as an Ajax-schooled talent, his instinct is to attack.
Under Amorim, it is markedly different for the defender. “In the beginning, some things were not like going automatically. So instead of going forward, you had to go on the break and stay in your position.
“So some things were different. But eventually, now after a couple of months, this system, everybody knows what to do and how to do it.”
Ten Hag reunited with Mazraoui two years after they both left Ajax in the same summer. Ten Hag gave Mazraoui his debut and the Moroccan played 150 times under the former United manager before he was sacked in October. The pair are still in touch.
Mazraoui was reunited with Ten Hag at United
Mazraoui was reunited with Ten Hag at United
In Ten Hag’s penultimate match, he picked Mazraoui as the No.10 in the 1-1 Europa League draw with Fenerbahce. That was a surprise to almost everyone, including Mazraoui. “Yeah, it was a surprise. Not something I didn't do. I did it a really long time ago, before that moment.
“I've always been quite good with Erik. It's not that I talk to him every week. I just texted him maybe one or two times more personally, like, how are you as a person, because it's not only about football.
“You’re never happy with [a manager’s sacking], of course. Getting a manager sacked is always a feeling of disappointment. You feel it as a player as well.
“So yeah, really, I was not happy with that. I was disappointed with that in myself and everybody else was as well, I think. So yeah, that was not the most happy part.”
Ten Hag gave Mazraoui his Ajax debut
Ten Hag gave Mazraoui his Ajax debut
United have revelled in their Europa League commitments yet a Premier League side await in the final. Mazraoui started in all three defeats to Tottenham, trophyless since 2008.
It is a dicey dynamic for the Premier League’s worst teams bar the sinking ships in the relegation zone. United have the trophy-winning nous and the pedigree yet Spurs are unbeaten in six matches against them.
“Tottenham brings a lot of intensity in their games,” Mazraoui says. “We've seen this already this season. We've played, I think, already three times against them. So yeah, that's, I think, their biggest quality, that they bring so much intensity and pressing in everything, what they do.
“Winning a trophy is never easy. I think in any case you don't downgrade that, because you have to fight hard to get into the position to win a trophy. You have to beat opponents who are strong and who are also really hungry to be in that final.
Mazraoui has started in all three of United's defeats to Spurs
Mazraoui has started in all three of United's defeats to Spurs
“Eventually, I think if you look at the end of your career and you look back at your career, you will look back at this season you're going to be proud of winning if we win on Wednesday, of winning the Europa League, more than you're going to look at eventually at the failure in the Premier League. You can be, for sure, proud.”
Are Tottenham’s wins against United relevant? “No, I don't think so. Because this is like a whole different competition. It's Europa League, it's a final, so the context around it is so different that you cannot really compare any games, any previous games with this final.”
Amorim was at a loss to explain United’s Jekyll-and-Hyde form in the Premier League and Europa League. Manuel Ugarte, the last of the summer recruits, opined that the main difference was the physicality.
Mazraoui pinpoints a more glaring issue. “Out of two chances in every Europa League, we score a minimum one. Out of the 20 chances we get in the Premier League, we don't manage to score one. That's the biggest difference.
United have had an awful domestic season
United have had an awful domestic season
“So I don't think that has something to do with the league. I don't think that the goalkeepers in the Europa League are that much worse than in the Premier League, so yeah, that's the biggest difference.”
That Dutch bluntness (Mazraoui was born in the Netherlands and retains a Dutch accent) thickens Mazraoui’s skin to withstand Amorim’s candour. He has no issue with some of the Portuguese’s diatribes.
“I like him a lot in that [respect]. He's really honest, really straightforward, he's not hiding from anything,” Mazraoui enthuses. “No (it’s not hard to hear the criticism), for me personally not, because that's how I am as well.
“I'm not hiding behind anything, and that's the manager as well. He takes responsibility, he knows he's the head of the club, eventually, because he's the manager. That's something I like a lot about him because I’m like that as well.”
Mazraoui was involved in three Ajax title-winning sides and lifted the Meisterschale shield that is awarded to the German champions. His winners’ medals are on display at his home, offering daily motivation.
If he gains another one next week, it may be soaked in fizz.