It kind of feels like the pressure has been on Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag since the beginning of last season, but it has been ramped up again after Utd’s latest disappointing result.
Since Sir Jim Ratcliffe became a minority shareholder of the Old Trafford club, speculation has been rife that Ten Hag’s days were numbered. Ratcliffe wasn’t exactly effusive in his praise of the manager in the summer and a mid-season sacking seems somewhat inevitable after Utd’s average start to the season.
Most the pre-match talk going into the FC Twente Europa League match on Wednesday centred around Ten Hag’s links to the Dutch club and the form of Marcus Rashford. There were also reports earlier this week that Utd are considering two potential replacements for the manager. Usually, when you hear reports this early into a season, the writing is on the wall.
Rashford Treatment Draws Criticism
Ten Hag’s use of Rashford recently has drawn some criticism. The striker has had a difficult 12 months but looked to be rebounding into some form, scoring three goals in two games against Southampton and Barnsley. Not the biggest of teams granted, but goals breed confidence no matter who they come against.
There was surprise, then, when Rashford was “rotated” for the game against Crystal Palace. It certainly raised eyebrows not to see his name on the team sheet. The fact the game finished 0-0 only added to the discourse. Utd legend Paul Scholes hinted that Rashford had been dropped for something that happened off the field rather than his form. Ten Hag was quick to shoot down such thoughts, calling them “crazy”.
Whatever the reason, it is baffling that he was dropped just as he was building some momentum. He has not been involved with England for a while and used the recent international break to work on fitness, meaning he should also be fresher than a lot of other players.
Same Old Problems Against FC Twente
In their Europa league opener, United were up against a decent outfit in FC Twente, but a team they were expected to beat relatively comfortably. Twente finished third in the Eredivisie last year and clearly knew the blueprint of how to get a positive result at Old Trafford. Teams visit the theatre of dreams without fear and they played freely when in possession, causing the hosts lots of issues in the early stages of the game.
Utd did improve after that, scoring a good goal through Christian Eriksen, and the Red Devils then look pretty comfortable for most of the game. However, familiar feelings of letting the game drift started to emerge and Twente grabbed an equaliser through Sam Lammers.
It just felt like we had seen the script several times already under Ten Hag. Utd failed to kill the game off and paid the price. Ten Hg looked furious afterwards and said in his post match press conference that his team needed to play at “100% indicating that perhaps complacency had crept in.
Ten Hag’s Time Running Out?
It is hard to think Ten Hag has much time left in the Old Trafford dugout. He likely would have been sacked if he had lost the F.A cup final, but is just feels like that was a stay of execution.
He has brought in his own players but the style remains the same the same failings are still there. He needs some big results fast, but even that might not save him. It feels as though the die has already been cast.
