Manchester United’s heavy hitters met on Tuesday in London, but there was no communication afterwards as to the fate of Eric ten Hag, the club’s under-fire manager. United went into the second international break of the season in 14th place, already six points adrift of the fourth spot that guarantees Champions League football.
The meeting, at the Knightsbridge offices of Ineos – the minority owners tasked with football decisions – featured Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Omar Berrida, the CEO and the sporting-and-technical-director duo of Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox. With United not playing for another 10 days, ten Hag could yet be axed if the feeling among the group is that no progress has been made since the summer.
With the scrutiny especially intense, ten Hag headed into the break after hard-fought draws away to Porto in the Europa League (3-3) and Aston Villa (0-0) in the Premier League. But 3-0 home thrashings at the hands of Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur, both rivals for those coveted Champions League places, have already alienated big sections of the fan base.
United’s five goals from seven league games is the worst in the division after Southampton (4), a promoted team currently in 19th place. And though ten Hag keeps talking of Expected Goals (xG) and chances created, no United player has managed more than one league goal. Across the city, Erling Haaland alone has 10 this season.
Ten Hag could be saved because there is no obvious choice to take over. Ruud van Nistelrooy, his assistant, would likely take over if he was dismissed, but his only experience of top-flight management was one season (2022-23) in the Netherlands where his PSV Eindhoven team finished second behind Arne Slot’s Feyenoord.
Zinedine Zidane, still out of work after all his success with Real Madrid, appeared to rule himself out of working in England, citing his lack of fluency in English, while Thomas Tuchel has been a deeply divisive figure wherever he has worked. Gareth Southgate did a sterling job with England, but his achievements at club level are scant to say the least.
Graham Potter appeared to be overawed by the magnitude of the Chelsea job – United are a much bigger club – and Roberto de Zerbi has made a promising start to life as Marseille coach after leaving Brighton.
With home matches against Brentford, Chelsea and Leicester City to come before the next international break in November – not to mention a mouthwatering tie against Fenerbahce and Jose Mourinho in Istanbul – ten Hag may just be granted a stay of execution. Flop in those games, however, and it might be van Nistelrooy, one of the great goal-scorers in the club’s history, that leads them into the festive period.
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