After choosing not to dismiss Erik ten Hag during the summer and extending his contract until 2026, the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led football department would seem somewhat foolish if he were to be removed just six Premier League matches into the season. Therefore, the stance at the club the morning after the 3-0 thrashing by Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday was a determination to remain calm while acknowledging the defeat, and its nature, as contrary to the excellence pursued by Ratcliffe, his CEO, Omar Berrada, and the sporting director, Dan Ashworth.
Ten league matches might seem a more reasonable test of Ten Hag and his management of the squad, but a loss at Porto in the Europa League on Thursday and at Aston Villa in the league on Sunday could trigger a change. Especially with an international break following the Villa game. The count of 66 injuries that plagued United last season is well-known, and the start of this season has also been hindered by injured players. Rasmus Højlund, Leny Yoro, and Luke Shaw sustained issues during pre-season, with Yoro and Shaw yet to play a match and Højlund only appearing as a substitute in the past three games. Mason Mount was also sidelined, after starting in the first two games, Harry Maguire missed the Spurs debacle due to a knock, and Kobbie Mainoo was forced off at halftime on Sunday with a suspected hamstring problem.
However, the lineup Ten Hag fielded against Ange Postecoglou’s team was arguably his strongest, excluding Shaw, Højlund, and possibly Yoro if the 18-year-old proves to be the player Ten Hag, Ashworth, and Berrada believe him to be. Losing even three key players can never justify the kind of defeat that elicits jeers from your own fans. Seven points from 21 in the league, a goal difference of -3, with only five goals scored, suggests otherwise, with the manager’s puzzling choices in attack raising concerns. On the left wing, Marcus Rashford failed to score in United’s first three league games – against Fulham, Brighton, and Liverpool – scored at Southampton to end a drought that stretched back to mid-March, added two more against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup, and was then “rotated” by the manager for the goalless draw at Crystal Palace. On the other wing, Alejandro Garnacho was dropped for the first two matches in favor of Amad Diallo (who scored at Brighton), started against Liverpool but was substituted after 69 minutes for Diallo, then dropped again for the 3-0 win over Southampton but scored the third goal as a substitute.
At the center forward position, further confusion: new signing Joshua Zirkzee needed time to adjust, apparently, so he did not start the first two matches despite joining a month before Fulham’s visit. Zirkzee has been ineffective apart from the winner against Fulham and appears to be more of a playmaker than a ruthless finisher. In Højlund’s absence, Ten Hag might have considered persuading Rashford to move inside from his preferred wide position because the 26-year-old has a formidable combination of speed, height, trickery, and lethality (when in form) to excel through the middle.
Before the Spurs drubbing, The Guardian reported that, following United’s 3-0 defeat by Liverpool in the previous home league match, Ratcliffe and his team were examining Ten Hag’s style of play. Five matches later, and excluding the 7-0 rout of League One opposition Barnsley, an acceptable game model of possession and control has been seen only in the win at Southampton and during the first half at Palace. This remains a challenge for Ten Hag, as demonstrated by Micky van de Ven slicing through United from inside his half to the byline and crossing for Brennan Johnson’s opener in the Spurs game. This after Bart van Rooij did something similar four days earlier to set up Sam Lammers’ equalizer for Twente in the Europa League. On too many matchdays, Ten Hag fields an XI that fails to gain control.
The football department’s expectation of Ten Hag is for continuous improvement this season rather than a top-four finish. However, to achieve the goal of a 21st title in 2028, the 150th anniversary of United’s formation, which is Berrada’s stated ambition, the current squad should have an elite core to build upon. They might just have it because five players could argue for a place, at least, in the title-winning Manchester City squad of the past four years: Lisandro Martínez at center-back/left-back, Mainoo in central midfield, Garnacho and Rashford on the wing, and Fernandes in attacking midfield. The question remains: is Ten Hag the manager to harness this talent and construct the rest of an elite team?
