Inside Ten Hag’s turbulent time at Manchester United

The axe has finally fallen on Erik ten Hag as Manchester United manager.

His last official engagement was in London, just as his first was.

It ended in defeat, which is how it started, although he was only watching at Selhurst Park on 22 May when United were beaten 1-0 by Crystal Palace in Ralf Rangnick’s last game as interim boss.

The day after, in the media room at Old Trafford, Ten Hag spoke for the first time about the challenge in front of him. The former Ajax manager was adamant joining United was not a risk despite the mess he seemed to be inheriting at his new club.

As he has repeatedly reminded everyone after his side won the FA Cup final in May this year, only Pep Guardiola at Manchester City has done better than his two trophies since the summer of 2022.

But another couple of observations Ten Hag made on that Monday morning have not survived the test of time.

One was about the dominance of Manchester City and Liverpool under Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp and whether that era could come to an end with the pair still in post. “Yes,” was Ten Hag’s curt reply.

The other was about how he planned to achieve it. The 54-year-old said his plan was “huge” and that it would be rolled out to staff and players. “You will see,” he said.

What is the Ten Hag ‘plan?’

However, for the sixth time since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, the fifth time since Liverpool appointed Klopp and the fourth time since Guardiola joined City the following year in 2016, United have once again concluded that they have the wrong man leading their team.

And a major reason for that is that Ten Hag’s ‘plan’ was never in evidence. Or at least it was, just once, in last season’s FA Cup final at Wembley, when the manner of victory over Manchester City was the chief reason for him keeping his job.

City were beaten thanks to a perfect plan that was on show from the opening minutes – suck defenders to the ball and play long, precise passes into space for the quick players and then support them. It was thrilling and brought a richly deserved success.

However, other than that victory, it has mostly just been words. Ten Hag has been increasingly mocked on unforgiving social media platforms for his repeated use of phrases such as ‘project’ and ‘game model’, and demanding players and fans ‘stick to the plan’, which he said again before the Brentford game on 19 October.

‘One of the most poorly coached teams in the league’

But most memorable in a series of withering attacks on Ten Hag came from Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher in the wake of a 4-0 defeat by Crystal Palace.

“Manchester United are one of the most poorly coached teams in the Premier League,” said the former Liverpool and England defender.

As well as that humbling loss at Palace, Ten Hag’s tenure also included:

• A four-goal defeat by Brentford in August 2022

• A 6-3 loss at Manchester City in October 2022 when United were four goals down by half-time

• A record 7-0 defeat by Liverpool in March 2023

• A loss at Chelsea in April despite his side leading deep into stoppage time

• A VAR call in their favour deep into extra-time of last season’s FA Cup semi-final that saw them scrape past Championship side Coventry on penalties after giving up a 3-0 lead.

Whereas Aston Villa’s Unai Emery, appointed five months after Ten Hag, implemented a clearly defined plan that has taken them to the top of the Champions League table, Ten Hag continued to talk about his.

£600m spent on Ten Hag transfers

Speaking anonymously, a former coach with a deep understanding of United, outlined what he felt was a lack of identifiable style.

“Erik is a coach,” he said. “We all assumed when he came in, he would coach the players in a certain way.

“But it is hard to see what that way is. Are United a pressing team? They don’t really have the players to press.

“They play with two defensive midfielders but then bring the full-backs inside, which clogs up the midfield. And when the opposition break, neither of the sixes are effective at stopping them.

“The issues are pretty basic but they are not being rectified.”

After the home victory against Everton last March, one of six out of seven Premier League games in which United had faced 20 shots or more on their goal, Ten Hag dismissed the problem, saying the visitors had a “low xG [expected goals]”.

The idea that United do not have defensive issues is ridiculous. They have conceded three goals or more under Ten Hag on 24 occasions, including against Liverpool and Tottenham already this season. That is the most of any Premier League club since Ten Hag took over.

Part of last season’s narrative was the volume of shots United faced against every type of team they faced, home and away.

The issues persist even though United have spent around £600m on new players during Ten Hag’s time. None of the arrivals could be regarded as an unqualified success.

Former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer debated about signing Antony for £30m during his time at the helm but backed off. Ten Hag pushed for the Brazilian winger, who became the second most expensive player in the club’s history when he signed for £82m.

Aside from the Carabao Cup victory over League One Barnsley last month, Antony has featured for 49 minutes across three substitute appearances. His last Premier League start was that 4-0 defeat by Palace in May.

‘Chaotic thinking Ineos were supposed to stop’

It was widely felt that Ten Hag wanted his team to play out from the back but didn’t have the players to cope with the tactics.

David de Gea’s limitations with the ball at his feet was the chief reason why Ten Hag opted against offering the goalkeeper a new contract at the end of his first season in charge and spent £47.2m to buy Andre Onana from Inter Milan.

On his Old Trafford debut, a pre-season friendly against Lens, an advanced Onana was lobbed from near halfway after an error from Diogo Dalot

In that moment, it was highlighted that to play out from the back, you do not just need a goalkeeper who is comfortable on the ball. You also need outfield players who are not going to give it away cheaply at points when the keeper is hopelessly exposed.

It was this kind of chaotic thinking that new owners Ineos were intending to stop when they brought in Omar Berrada as chief executive, Dan Ashworth as sporting director and Jason Wilcox as technical director this summer, having concluded, after two weeks assessing the alternatives following the FA Cup final win, that Ten Hag was the right man to lead United into a new era.

All three executives were visible on United’s pre-season tour of the United States, where former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy was present after snubbing a managerial offer at Burnley to take up a role as Ten Hag’s assistant.

The ex-Netherlands international was jovial when he wandered over at the start of a training session in Los Angeles to speak to a group of journalists, some of who covered the club when he was a United player 20 years ago.

Manchester United: I am here for the project and to win trophies – Ten Hag

Van Nistelrooy’s mood was symptomatic of the club as a whole. The vibe was one of optimism. The targets were clear.

“I believe this club will be back and winning trophies again,” defender Harry Maguire told BBC Sport in Los Angeles.

“It is frustrating that you can’t put a timeframe on it but with the structure they have in place now and the hierarchy, I really do believe they are going in the right direction and are the right men to bring success back to this club.”

On that same trip a week later, Ten Hag spoke about his high ambitions. He said people with “great abilities” had been brought in.

Eighth, it was generally accepted, was not good enough and no-one seriously considered that would be where United finished again.

However, they are currently 14th and have their second-lowest Premier League points tally after nine games, with 11 points (they had 10 at this stage in the 2019-20 campaign).

By the time Berrada and Ashworth spoke to the regular United reporters at Old Trafford on the day of the game against Liverpool on 1 September, they had already had to digest defeat at Brighton a week earlier.

Questions about Ten Hag’s future were deliberately prefaced with “even if you were to lose heavily today”, which is exactly what happened.

Some of the failings are not a surprise to everyone. United committed £40m to sign Dutch defender Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich. A source who has previously coached the 25-year-old said De Ligt can struggle with the positional side of the game, both in and out of possession.

This was brutally highlighted, again by Carragher on Sky Sports, as he assessed United’s miserable 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham.

Tough Ronaldo, Sancho, Rashford situations & crippling injuries

Other decisions are as baffling as his media comments. Marcus Rashford was dropped for the Premier League game at Crystal Palace in September despite scoring three times in his previous two games.

Sources close to the player have said they were mystified why Ten Hag should end up talking about Rashford’s ill-advised trip to Belfast nearly eight months earlier, before the game at Selhurst Park. It is hardly the kind of subject matter that is going to generate an atmosphere of loyalty and Rashford’s form has dipped.

Cristiano Ronaldo says he feels ‘betrayed’ by Manchester United

Ten Hag has had to deal with other tough situations.

Right at the start of his tenure, he had to discipline Cristiano Ronaldo for leaving Old Trafford early after he had been replaced at half-time during a pre-season game against Rayo Vallecano.

The move showed strength but set in place a chain of events that would eventually lead to Ronaldo being kicked out of the club following an incendiary interview with Piers Morgan when he said Ten Hag “doesn’t show respect for me”.

Ten Hag used a lunch with journalists in Spain during the World Cup break to explain his thinking.

“When he is in good shape, he is a good player and could help us achieve the objectives we have, that is quite clear,” said the Dutchman.

“But he wasn’t. I wanted to work with him. He chose another way.”

Ten Hag disciplined Rashford shortly afterwards for missing the start of a team meeting by leaving the England forward on the bench for a game at Wolves. Rashford scored the winner after being introduced as a substitute.

Then there was Jadon Sancho, who was put on a personal fitness programme after United’s coaching staff noted his physical stats were dropping. When he was left out of the squad for a defeat at Arsenal in September 2023, Ten Hag cited the England man’s poor performance in training.

Sancho immediately responded on social media by saying he was being made “a scapegoat”. Sancho deleted the post but refused to apologise.

Ten Hag never picked him for another Premier League game and while he did return to the squad during pre-season, on transfer deadline day, he went on loan to Chelsea.

Last season, Ten Hag had to wrestle with a crippling injury list, on which he had not always received the best advice. With Luke Shaw fit, he was told Tyrell Malacia would be available within a couple of weeks of the start of February last season, so Ten Hag opted to let his on loan left-back Sergio Reguilon return to Tottenham.

But Malacia was soon to suffer a major setback in his recovery and Shaw suffered a hamstring injury at Luton on 18 February. Neither has played a game for United since. Despite a bullish summer statement from the club about a revamped medical department, at West Ham Ten Hag was without seven senior players because of injury.

However, sympathy can only be extended so far.

Ten Hag is a likeable man. On that pre-Christmas trip to Spain, he entertained the media over lunch with stories of his youth and early career. In Los Angeles this summer, arriving more than an hour earlier than initially planned for a series of interviews with UK media he laughed and joked with reporters and even offered advice on the best places to go for coffee near his Cheshire home.

At the recent Football Writers’ Dinner in Manchester, he hung around and spoke to journalists long after he had collected his award for winning the FA Cup.

But during the season, in an official capacity, Ten Hag’s communication was not great. Some members of the media were told by United staff that Ten Hag preferred ‘blunt’ questions because he found them easier to understand and answer.

The problem was, the answers, increasingly, did not stand up to scrutiny.

Before and after the international break, Ten Hag spoke about being on the “same page” as United’s hierarchy. But for all the bullish words it has seemed to be a question of when, not if, he would leave.

One source, who has vast experience at a senior level at United, was surprised Ten Hag did not lose his job at the end of last season. He was incredulous it didn’t happen at some point before the October resumption.

But numerous United figures, both in and out of Old Trafford, agreed with the sentiment that once the boulder starts to roll down the hill, it is a matter of time before it reaches the bottom. Now it has.

Many of United’s players will be sad to see Ten Hag go.

In April 2023, the Daily Telegraph reported, external one of the reasons why Tottenham opted not to try to bring Ten Hag in from Ajax to replace Jose Mourinho in 2021 was because they felt he lacked charisma.

There is an element of that at United.

Multiple sources have confirmed there has been no big bust-up and no growing ill feeling. But there was no connection either. A lack of a basic understanding of what Ten Hag was trying to achieve.