Down The Wings

Manchester United Fan Blog

Did Erik ten Hag earn a stay of execution? – Weekly Takeaway

A big build-up to what was looked at by many as Erik Ten Hag’s last game in charge of Manchester United ended with technical difficulties for referee Rob Jones and VAR being the most interesting thing that viewers would have seen in today’s stalemate at Villa Park.

A game with no real talking points, apart from the position of Ten Hag, a familiar talking point in recent weeks. A pivotal week for Erik Ten Hag ends with back-to-back away draws, against Porto on Thursday night and Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.

Considering the circumstances, they are definitely not bad results for United, but the performances were far from desirable, so will this be the end of the Dutchman at Old Trafford or will he get a stay of execution?

A disheartening display from both sides, and probably a better result for United than it is for Aston Villa, considering the masses predicted United to be humiliated by Unai Emery’s men, but an uninspiring performance from the away side would not have left travelling fans feeling positive going into another international break.

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Heading into the game and even the second half, there were a lot of questions about the manager’s decision-making with the squad, but Ten Hag will no doubt feel as though he has done enough to keep his job and that his decisions were the right ones. Including Jonny Evans from the start was an interesting one, but not one that fans will be complaining about after the game, as he was awarded Player of the Match, and deservedly so.

United looked as if they set up to not lose, defending well for 90 minutes but at the expense of having nearly zero attacking threat. If that was the goal for Ten Hag, then he succeeded, but this is not what fans were promised when he came in two years ago and nowhere near good enough of a game plan for the manager in his third season at one of the biggest clubs in world football.

The bigger picture remains the issue for Ten Hag, as the goalless draw makes it Manchester United’s worst-ever start to a Premier League season, as well as scoring their fewest amount of goals in the opening seven games of a single season in the competition’s history, with five goals. The draw also makes it five games without a win in all competitions, the last being United’s demolition of Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, which doesn’t exactly give the fans anything to shout about.

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Ten Hag is living off the fact that he has won two trophies during his time at United, as he keeps reminding people in the media, but the hierarchy should be able to see past this and make the correct decision this time round. The values of the manager simply do not align with the values of the club; he values not losing the same as winning, and low risk rather than high potential upside, things that are simply unforgivable as manager of Manchester United.

An FA Cup final victory and a lack of available managers that suited what INEOS were looking for meant that Erik Ten Hag was given a contract extension in the summer, but he may have already lost the faith of those above him. There is no doubt that it will be the talk of the international break, giving the hierarchy a huge decision to make.

Will it be Erik Ten Hag on the touchline when United host Brentford after the break, or will Ruud Van Nistelrooy be the main man in the dugout at Old Trafford, it remains to be seen.

An interesting few weeks ahead, after what can only be described as the complete opposite in Sunday’s dull affair in Birmingham.

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