Welcome to Erik ten Hag’s parallel universe, a Manchester United world full of certainty and optimism, where the best of all possible outcomes is a function of doing things the right way. His way.
Thus did his pre-match conference ahead of the trip to Fulham have about it a familiar ring. Talk of standards and the need to match them every day, the requirement to win every match, of the players putting in every effort and being ready for the game. This way lies Camelot.
This was true after every defeat this season, each promise to do better begetting a new failure. There have been eight losses so far. Ten Hag has exhausted every plausible bounce back theory. The chasm between his pledges and outcomes has become so great as to rob his words of weight and meaning.
The negative momentum that has built on the back of losses against Tottenham Hotspur , Arsenal, Brighton, Crystal Palace and Manchester City in the Premier League, Bayern Munich and Galatasaray in the Champions League and Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup appears increasingly unstoppable.
Ten Hag has crossed a disturbance threshold. Every day invites more speculation, making it all but impossible for him to function. Boardroom inertia resulting from the turbulent ownership dynamic has added to the sense of crippling stasis. United are stuck, unable to judge whether sacking or keeping Ten Hag is the way to go. Meanwhile, results continue to collapse, taking morale with them.
The gutless disintegration against City was the high-profile emasculation that destroyed almost all of the goodwill that remained from his first season at Old Trafford. The defeat to Newcastle poured petrol on a crisis that seems more likely to deepen at Fulham than lift.
Last season’s qualification for the Champions League and victory in the Carabao Cup, no matter how routine that ought to be for a club of United’s size and wealth, were seen as evidence of a plan working and reinforced the idea of Ten Hag as a turbo coach, a zen-like figure reconnecting United to the club’s mythical past.
How different his uncompromising qualities appear now. The strict application of rules that led to the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo and relegation of Marcus Rashford to the bench over timekeeping breaches was judged to be one reason why the team was improving. Now the principled approach that, among other things, keeps Jadon Sancho in exile, is seen as unhelpful and inflexible. With Rashford misfiring and Antony almost beyond use, Ten Hag’s negative attitude towards an asset that cost United £73m has lost its force.
The club denies replacements for Ten Hag are under consideration. Of course they do. To admit otherwise would be to escalate the pile-on. There are reports of anomie behind the scenes, of a club barely able to function as a result of the delays surrounding Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s proposed buy-in.
That we have been here before is seen by a few loyalists as a reason to keep Ten Hag in his post since changing the manager has achieved little in the 10 years since United last won the Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson. However, that ignores how the experience of managing United warps and perverts to such a degree it robs coaches of their capacity to function effectively. As a result they end up becoming a part of the problem. This appears to be the juncture Ten Hag has reached.
He cannot admit this, of course, and so deeper into the vortex he is dragged, his words of defiance, his justifications and excuses, spilling out behind him: “They [the players] are positive. They want to put this right, and we know the standards here. We have to match them every day.
“We’ve had two big setbacks, but we’ll fight back. The dressing room is strong, the staff are strong and this manager is strong. I’m convinced in the long-term, they will be hard to beat, and they know how to do it.”
This will be put to the test again at Craven Cottage, the site of their last victory in London. Though three points adrift of United in the table, Fulham have lost one match fewer. Their problem, like the visitors, is scoring goals, only nine to United’s 11.
It might be United find something at the bottom of the barrel that breaks the sequence. They did manage a hike in urgency in the second half against Newcastle before Joe Willock drove the blade home a third time. Matching the opposition, sprint for sprint, tackle for tackle is the minimum requirement. If Ten Hag wants this to be about standards, he might start with that.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/NM410c5
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