Erik ten Hag’s ignorance will cost him his job? – Weekly Takeaway
One of the main talking points throughout the second half of the 2023/2024 season, the majority of the transfer window and now only six games into the 2024/2025 season has been around Erik Ten Hag’s position at Manchester United.
Despite only signing a contract extension in July, it seems it is only a matter of time now before there is a new manager at the helm at Old Trafford, and deservedly so, but could Ten Hag’s stubbornness and ignorance speed up an arguably inevitable conclusion?
After another embarrassing home defeat on Sunday, this time to Tottenham Hotspur, the Dutch manager is now under intense scrutiny as United manager, as he and the players enter a week where they travel to the Estadio do Dragao to face Porto on Thursday night, before heading to Villa Park to play Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon.
Undoubtedly a difficult week of fixtures for United, in which a lot of fans believe it could be the last week that Ten Hag is in charge of the club if the results in the two games are not positive. Whilst results have been nothing short of shameful, Ten Hag’s approach in the media will also not be going down well with the United board, who showed faith in him less than three months ago.
While Ten Hag did come out after the game and acknowledge the number of issues with United’s performance, he did emphasise that the red card changed the game. The debatable first-half red card for Bruno Fernandes of course made United’s task more difficult, but the game was passing them by at ease even before then.
A 15-minute spell in the second half gave the match-going fans something to shout about, but besides that, it was an absolute demolition job from Ange Postecoglou’s men. United fans have gotten used to Ten Hag’s excuses as of late, but mentioning Fernandes’ dismissal as a reason for the shocking performance is a new low, even for his standards.
Ten Hag looked baffled as a Sky Sports interviewer asked whether United were guilty of ‘familiar failings’ on his watch, although there was not anything to be confused about, as that was exactly the case. The question triggered a familiar response, with the manager not taking much accountability for his part in United’s recent poor form.
It was only at the start of September that Liverpool manager Arne Slot was able to explain in less than two minutes how his side broke down United’s game plan and beat them 3-0. Four weeks later, nothing has changed at Old Trafford and a reluctance to change his game plan led to United suffering the same fate against Spurs.
Spurs’ dismantling of United made it 23 times that they have conceded at least three goals in a game under Ten Hag, totalling to 19% of all matches played since he took over from Ralf Rangnick. This compares to Rangnick’s 14% and with David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all being at 10% or below. A shocking statistic, but unsurprising given what looks like a lack of clear instruction from the manager and no play style as such.
Patience will be wearing thin with the likes of Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth, but multiple reports today suggest that United are set to stick with Ten Hag for this week’s matches, so it will be interesting to see if they look at it the same way this time next week going into another international break. Big decisions will need to be made, but many fans feel Ten Hag will have to change his tune quickly to avoid a seemingly inevitable sacking.
