Erik ten Hag again committed what was recently described as a ‘sackable offence’ as pressure continues to mount.
Manchester United slumped to an embarrassing 3-1 home defeat against an outstanding Brighton team and Ten Hag is once again facing heavy scrutiny.
The Mirror described the current Red Devils side as “insipid” and the Dutchman has a tough job on his hands trying to turn things around with a crucial Champions League clash against Bundesliga behemoth Bayern coming up in just a few days.
Though he likes to portray himself as a hardman and recently assured the media that his players are not affected by the off-field turmoil concerning Antony, Mason Greenwood, Jadon Sancho and the takeover, the results on the pitch paint an entirely different picture.
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The Manchester club have lost three of their opening five Premier League games this term and were truly humbled by Roberto de Zerbi’s Brighton, with former Man Utd man Danny Welbeck opening the scoring, to add insult to injury.
No excuses
Ten Hag and company endured a similarly tumultuous start to last season, but that was somewhat understandable as the Dutchman attempted to implement an entirely new style while having to mostly rely on players from previous regimes. This excuse won’t cut it anymore after another transfer window of lavish spending.
Some of the problems Man Utd are facing have been out of Ten Hag’s control, that much must be acknowledged. His decision to sub on the much-maligned Anthony Martial for an impressive Rasmus Hojlund was met with an avalanche of boos at Old Trafford.
Former Man Utd player Paul Parker recently said that playing Martial over Hojlund should be a sackable offence, but as the coach stated after the game, the young Dane is not fit enough to play the full 90 after his back injury – fair enough.
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Ten Hag also said post-match that Man Utd “need character” against Bayern, but the way things are going, they will need much, much more than that. For all the talk about Ten Hag seeking to change the ‘culture’ at Man Utd, questions must now be asked of his methods because the Dutchman’s ‘culture’ is clearly not yielding results anymore.
