Manchester, Oct 4: It feels like Groundhog Day for Manchester United and Erik ten Hag.
Another season has hit crisis point after only a few games.
Perhaps that’s why the United manager was so dismissive of the renewed pressure on him after last week’s humbling 3-0 loss to Tottenham.
“Nothing is easy, but this is nothing for me to panic about because I experienced it so often with my teams during seasons that you are facing those problems,” he said this week.
He is right.
United’s record of three losses after six English Premier League games is in keeping with his two previous campaigns at Old Trafford.
In 2022, he lost his opening two and three of the first seven.
In 2023 it was even worse, as United lost three of five at the start.
Both of those seasons ended with a trophy, but the feel-good factor provided by the most recent silverware – May’s FA Cup triumph against Manchester City – has long evaporated in the face of the likelihood that United’s 11-year wait for the league title is set to go on.
There is little sign of progress in the league despite spending around $750 million on transfers.
On Sunday, United travels to Aston Villa, which has been transformed by manager Unai Emery, who has worked on a fraction of that budget. The Spaniard has spent around $270 million to turn Villa from a team that was battling relegation when he took over in October 2022 to one that beat beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Defeat against Villa would intensify questions about Ten Hag’s position ahead of the October international break, which has traditionally been a time when clubs look to make managerial changes.
Emery’s success at Villa is evidence of what can be achieved in a short period of time. Villa was three points above the relegation zone when he was hired. In his first full season, he led the Midlands club to fourth, eight points ahead of United and qualified for the Champions League.
He is yet to deliver silverware, but the trajectory is clearly upward.
United is 13th heading into the weekend, having finished last season in eighth and the previous year third.
Ten Hag kept his job only after an extensive review by United’s new hierarchy put in place by minority owner Jim Ratcliffe. But even if he was given a vote of confidence and a one-year extension to his contract, he remains a legacy of a failing operation that Ratcliffe is trying to overhaul since buying a 27.7% stake in the club in February.
What’s more, the decision to keep Ten Hag was made before new CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth officially took up their positions in the offseason.
Both insisted in September the Dutchman had their full backing, but managers are ultimately judged by results on the field and the sight of United fans leaving early and some booing at the end of the Tottenham game highlighted growing dissatisfaction again around the club.
Ten Hag has a new coaching staff, including former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, but familiar problems are evident.
United has previously sacked managers David Moyes, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in mid-season, but never one before November in the modern era.
That might provide Ten Hag with some comfort as he tries, once again, to turn United’s season around. (AP)
