It was nonetheless darkish when Erik ten Hag drove into Carrington this morning with the storm clouds as soon as once more gathering over Manchester United’s beleaguered supervisor.
Yesterday’s 3-0 capitulation in opposition to Tottenham at Outdated Trafford has plunged Ten Hag again into disaster simply six video games into the brand new Premier League season. United have misplaced half of them and are languishing within the backside half of the desk with a unfavourable objective distinction.
Except outcomes enhance shortly, Ten Hag is dealing with the sack simply three-and-a-half months after a delegation from co-owners Ineos led by Sir Dave Brailsford flew to his vacation residence in Ibiza to inform the Dutchman he was conserving his job, and a month after he was given a vote of confidence by new chief government Omar Berrada.
How has it unravelled once more so shortly? After reshaping the management group and training workers, and spending one other £200million on new signings in the summertime, why cannot Ten Hag produce a profitable group?
Mail Sport appears on the points behind the scenes which have pushed the United boss again to the brink once more.
The storm clouds are gathering over Erik ten Hag after Manchester United’s loss to Tottenham
Ten Hag has been thrust again into disaster simply six video games into the brand new Premier League season
Lifeless man strolling
Though Ten Hag was spared the axe in June after Ineos carried out an end-of-season evaluation, by talking to potential replacements earlier than and after United’s victory within the FA Cup remaining a month earlier they have been at all times vulnerable to undermining the supervisor.
Nearly all of gamers again Ten Hag however the feeling within the dressing room is that he’s on borrowed time, and that’s mentioned to have contributed to a dip in efficiency ranges this season. Within the Premier League, even the slightest drop-off might be essential.
United appeared to again Ten Hag by bringing in Dutch coaches Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar, in addition to a number of extra signings acquainted to the supervisor from his outdated membership Ajax or from Holland like Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee.
However by hawking his job round in the summertime, and solely triggering the 12-month extension in his contract, the injury was executed.
Alan Shearer instructed The Relaxation is Soccer podcast as we speak: ‘As quickly because it got here out in the summertime that United have been taking a look at different managers, it was nearly going to be not possible for him.’
When Ten Hag agreed with Christian Eriksen’s feedback after the draw with FC Twente final week that United’s opponents ‘needed it extra’, it set alarm bells ringing.
Much more so after they did not give him a response in opposition to Spurs, and that’s one thing the United hierarchy will likely be monitoring carefully within the video games in opposition to FC Porto and Aston Villa this week.
Nearly all of gamers nonetheless again Ten Hag however the feeling is that he’s on borrowed time
United’s hierarchy will likely be carefully expecting a response after their capitulation to Spurs
No excuses
By bettering the construction round Ten Hag, United additionally remoted the supervisor as a possible trigger for any failure within the system.
There was an acceptance in the summertime that he could not be judged on final season’s disappointment due to the deficiencies above and beneath him on the membership.
United introduced in Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and a completely new backroom group.
Ten Hag is the one fixed, which implies there might be no excuses if issues do not go nicely – they usually might hardly have gone worse up to now.
The return of former Outdated Trafford favorite Van Nistelrooy additionally creates an intriguing dynamic that wasn’t there earlier than.
United would have been unlikely to show to Ten Hag’s outdated assistants Mitchell van der Gaag or Steve McClaren to step in as caretaker supervisor had they sacked him final season.
Van Nistelrooy, then again, is an up-and-coming coach who turned down a lot of managerial alternatives to rejoin his outdated membership and can be a possible alternative, no less than within the brief time period.
The membership introduced in Omar Berrada (left) as CEO to assist repair the deficiencies above Ten Hag
Ruud van Nistelrooy (second from proper) can be a possible successor within the brief time period
Operating out of time
Regardless of one other massive spend on new signings this summer season – taking the whole outlay beneath Ten Hag past £600m – none of them have shone up to now.
With Leny Yoro out injured, Zirkzee, De Ligt, Mazraoui and Manuel Ugarte are nonetheless discovering their ft in tough circumstances.
Crucially, United did not resolve two of their largest issues from final season.
Left again was the primary difficulty within the extended absence of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. It created a elementary weak spot in United’s defence and blunted Marcus Rashford who was requested to play deeper on the left to supply extra safety.
Rashford dropped from scoring 30 targets in Ten Hag’s first season to eight in his second.
United signed Mazraoui who’s a right-back whereas persevering with to play Dalot out of place on the left. The Portugal worldwide was caught out for Spurs’ first objective having beforehand struggled at Brighton and Southampton.
In the meantime, Shaw hasn’t performed for United since February and Malacia since Might 2023.
United’s different downside final season was scoring, as they completed with a unfavourable objective distinction for the primary time within the Premier League, and that has continued this time period. The anticipated objective statistics present that they need to have practically doubled their whole of 5 in six league video games.
Having determined to purchase Rasmus Hojlund final 12 months as an alternative of pushing more durable for Harry Kane, they opted for Zirkzee this summer season forward of a extra skilled Premier League striker like Ivan Toney who moved to Saudi Arabia as an alternative.
Zirkzee has scored as soon as in eight video games whereas Hojlund has but to get off the mark this season as he eases again into motion following a hamstring damage.
Ten Hag spoke earlier than the Spurs debacle concerning the determination he and the membership have made to spend money on youth and referred to as for persistence as he moulds the group. The difficulty is that point is not on his facet.
United determined to purchase Rasmus Hojlund final season as an alternative of making an attempt more durable for Harry Kane
The facet’s weak spot at left again blunted Marcus Rashford, who was requested to play deeper
‘Uncoached’ group
The defeat to Tottenham on the again of a deflating draw with Twente has as soon as once more left Ten Hag’s teaching and techniques open to scrutiny.
It was embarrassing for him that 4 days after saying Bart Van Rooij ought to by no means have been allowed to go previous half United’s group within the build-up to a objective, Micky van de Ven did precisely the identical for Spurs.
Former United defender Phil Jones highlighted how United’s urgent was out of sync. ‘Ultimately they grow to be disjointed everywhere in the pitch,’ added Jones.
His outdated team-mate Paul Scholes was much more damning in his evaluation of Ten Hag’s teaching.
‘You do not know how they are going to strategy video games, whether or not they will play on the counter-attack or sit deep, or whether or not they are going to attempt to have all of the possession within the recreation,’ mentioned Scholes.
‘We have no thought – they appear like an uncoached soccer group.’An absence of identification has been one of many foremost criticisms levelled at Ten Hag’s groups since he took over, and it is a difficulty he appears no nearer to resolving after practically two-and-a-half years within the job.
Look across the Premier League on the affect Enzo Maresca has had at Chelsea, Arne Slot at Liverpool, Ange Postecoglou at Spurs or Unai Emery at Aston Villa, they usually have all been in a position to make their mark in much less time.
Micky van de Ven was allowed to run virtually the entire size of the pitch for Spurs’ opener
An absence of identification has been one of many foremost criticisms levelled at Ten Hag since he took cost
Fortunate stars
Outcomes will decide Ten Hag’s destiny, and one other concern for the individuals who will make the choice is that they may have been even worse.
United have been nicely overwhelmed within the 3-0 defeats by Liverpool and Tottenham, and Andre Onana saved his group from a thrashing on Sunday with 4 one-on-one saves.
A group filled with costly stars have been just a little unlucky to lose at Brighton when inexplicably naive defending led to Joao Pedro’s injury-time winner. However the opening victory over Fulham would possibly simply have gone the opposite approach as nicely, and so might the win at Southampton had it not been for Onana saving a penalty.
As he tries to dig himself out of one other gap, the cruel actuality for Ten Hag is that it might be significantly deeper.
