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Manchester United have begun this season in historically poor fashion.
It is the club’s worst start to a Premier League campaign ever, with four defeats in their opening seven games. They sit currently 10th in the table with a negative goal difference.
In Europe they have not fared much better. A disappointing, albeit expected, defeat away to Bayern Munich was followed by a calamatious 3-2 loss at home to Galatasaray, leaving Erik ten Hag’s side bottom of their Champions League group.
It constitutes the most turbulent point of the Dutchman’s tenure at Old Trafford. Questions are being asked and there are no easy answers his defenders can provide.
Yet there are forces at play here which go far beyond Ten Hag’s control. There are a combination of factors, which have contributed towards this record-breakingly poor start, which long precede his appointment at United. Factors which have claimed five managers’ jobs in the post-Sir Alex Ferguson malaise.
If United fans aren’t careful to consider them, Ten Hag may soon become the sixth.
Inept Ownership
Laurie Whitwell (The Athletic) believes there are off-the-field issues, manifesting themselves on the pitch, stemming from “years of Glazer family ownership.”
The Glazers demand oversight on a Manchester-based operation from the east coast of America. They require their sign-off on decisions made in the context of British Standard Time from an Eastern Time Zone. They want extended periods of time to consider decisions they lack intimate knowledge or expertise about.
Whitwell believes this “creates a workplace that is paradoxically stifled while also lacking direction.” He provides the example of Joel Glazer, whom United executives often have to “wait for sunrise” in the East Coast before approval of moves – a six hour time difference. Glazer then likes “time to deliberate” on a proposal he often knows nothing about.
Is it any wonder United seem perpetually slow in every decision?
The Lack of Decisive Investment
The facilities at United, once the best in their class, have been allowed to depreciate into a state of almost disrepair.
Old Trafford is in desperate need of redevelopment with something as basic as adequate roofing something the Glazers seem unwilling to provide funds for.
Similarly, the training ground is no longer the level it was, with multiple clubs across England having produced facilities which far surpass Carrington, despite their revnue streams being far smaller than United’s.
Whitwell contends this mentality – of accepting, even embracing, mediocrity – filters down to the players, who begin to “subconsciously” mirror the standards they see around them.
Keeping Unwanted Players
This decline in the assets at the club extend to the squad as well. Players who are evidently not at the requisite level are not forced out the door, instead allowed to continue on wages which they are not commensurate with.
Ten Hag requires a squad who are ‘all-in’ on his playing style to succeed. Passengers cannot, and should not, be permitted, as their indifference spreads like a disease; particularly in a dressing room with the mental fragility of United’s.
Whitwell asserts:
“…even though three transfer windows have passed under [Ten Hag], he has players in his squad he does not want, and by the same token there are players still at the club who would rather be elsewhere. For a manager whose style is based on discipline, which requires buy-in from players, that kind of atmosphere is especially counterproductive.
Ten Hag is intense, so too is Mitchell van der Gaag, his assistant who sets the training sessions, and that is not easy for all players. Pep Guardiola is similar. The major difference is Guardiola is winning, so most clashes shrink away. But also crucial is that his employers Manchester City act decisively on outgoings and incomings.”
While Ten Hag has been backed heavily in the market in terms of incomings, and he has received support on disputes with individual players (Ronaldo, Sancho etc.), the constant constraint imposed from a computer screen in America suffocates meaningful progress.
Harry Maguire is the perfect example.
Benjamin Pavard was reportedly ready to sign for United, with personal terms agreed and a reasonable transfer fee (€30 million) required for his services. A Champions League-winning, World Cup-winning central defender, capable of playing right-back, in his prime who is comfortable on the ball. A no-brainer of a deal.
To complete the deal, however, United first required Maguire to depart for a reasonable fee. A deal was agreed with West Ham but a dispute over the conditions of a pay-off with Old Trafford officials led Maguire to reject the offer. United would not seemingly pay the money required to move Maguire on, a penny-pinching decision undoubtedly made from the east coast of America.
Pavard subsquently signed for Inter Milan, Maguire stayed in his usual vantage point of the bench, and an injury crisis in defence derailed United’s start to the season.
Manchester City would not have hesitated to shift Maguire, to then capture Pavard, if that was the wish of Guardiola. United did not afford Ten Hag the same privilege, and the effect has been acutely felt on the pitch.
Injuries
This injury crisis in defence has, in fact, permeated throughout the squad.
At one point Ten Hag was faced with twelve first-team injuries. He has been unable to field his ‘ideal XI’ at any point this season, often being forced to play his second, third, or even fourth-choice in certain positions.
There are a combination of reasons for this unfortunate situation, as explained in greater detail here, but they should come as no surprise to fans who endured the last decade of slow, ponderous football.
A lack of fitness; an unsuitability to the rigours of modern football; the inability to press with intensity; these are all realities which have been true of the United squad for years. It’s little wonder injuries have started to compile as Ten Hag has sought to implement a more demanding style of football, predicated on dominating transitions.
This United dressing room has never liked to run, unless it’s from a fight.
A Sense of Perspective
These issues combine to create a context which helps explain, but does not fully absolve, Ten Hag’s current woes.
The Dutchman has made inexplicable decisions on the pitch, often making susbtitutions which cause United’s performance to devolve further, and questionable choices off the pitch – more of the signings made at his behest have question marks than ticks by their names as one example.
Deciding to focus on making United the ‘best transition team in the world‘ when they were already so deadly on the counter-attack, yet so poor in possession, and making Andre Onana a priority signing – a goalkeeper most effective in a team looking to keep the ball – constitutes one such contradictory choice. It is not the only one however.
Yet fans must keep in mind the aforementioned issues Ten Hag is being forced to deal with. At a bare minimum, the Dutchman should be granted the privilege of having the majority of his injured players return to the first-team before making any definitive judgements.
The fact that Ten Hag is trying to proactively introduce the highest of standards in a reactive organisation which accepts mediocrity in exchange for a quick buck should be commended, and a level of patience afforded him as a result.
Ten Hag isn’t merely competing against nineteen other managers in the Premier League to establish United’s dominance, he’s often fighting against his own employers.
The post The long-standing issues outside of Erik ten Hag’s control at Man United appeared first on Man United News And Transfer News | The Peoples Person.
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| Article Name | Not Ten Hag: the real reasons for United’s dismal start to the season - The Athletic |
| Description |
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| Author Name | Candyboy |
| Published On | October 05, 2023 |
| Post Category |
Man Utd
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