Erik ten Hag has just presided over Manchester United’s worst ever Premier League season but the Dutchman’s tactics are unlikely to close the gap on the top outfits
Manchester United finished sixth in the Premier League before Erik ten Hag was appointed manager. This season they have limped home in eighth.
As sweet as winning the FA Cup last week was for Ten Hag, the reality is that the quality of a team is measured over 38 games – and United are getting worse. I remember Ralf Rangnick suggesting that the club needed open-heart surgery when he handed the keys to Old Trafford over to the Dutchman.
The shock Wembley win over Manchester City at Wembley may have got fans’ pulses racing – and rightly so given they prevented their rivals from across town from claiming another piece of history with a second successive Double. But let’s be honest, in the grand scheme of things the win was worth little more than a few local bragging rights.
It has simply papered over cracks that at times appeared to be growing wider than the ones that allow rain water to flood through the leaky roof of United’s stadium.
United played like the underdogs they were. They were full of bite and aggression. And their one flash of creativity produced a wonderful second goal for Kobbie Mainoo that transpired to be the winner.
But they are never going to close the huge gap on City, Arsenal and Liverpool at the summit of English football by playing like that every week. Being rank outsiders suited Ten Hag’s team perfectly.
And while the fans clearly enjoyed seeing Bruno Fernandes lift up the famous old trophy at City’s expense, they wouldn’t be so happy if they were served up that kind of football every week. And, the truth is, it’s because United have produced so much mundane stuff in the Premier League that Ten Hag still finds his future under threat.
Perhaps the Dutchman will now survive – and last week was his Fergie 1990 moment rather than his Van Gaal 2016 finale. But Manchester United are famous for playing on the front foot – and in many respects what they produced at Wembley mirrored their season.
United did to City what other teams spent last season doing to them. But you need much more than that to be Premier League champions. Sir Jim Ratcliffe now has to decide whether to put his faith in those 90 minutes or the last nine months.
Ten Hag’s first season in charge was encouraging enough. Finishing third, winning the Carabao Cup and reaching the FA Cup Final suggested the glory days were coming back. But United then suffered one of the worst cases of second season syndrome I can ever recall.
Are United a better team than they were when the Dutchman was appointed? I don’t think so – especially when you realise that they have spent over £400million in the transfer market during the last two years.
One thing that might save Ten Hag is that perhaps Ratcliffe and his INEOS Group haven’t been able to identify someone who would do a better job.
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