Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United co-owner, sat in the directors’ box, wearing a face like thunder. Then, as Liverpool scored another goal, he covered his face with his hand. United’s match-going fans are too classy to boo the manager, especially during a game against their biggest rivals. They started to leave the stadium. That was their silent protest.
On the pitch, a United side bereft of shape and structure were getting eviscerated by Arne Slot’s Liverpool on their home patch. Anfield’s Dutchman has been at the club for three months and his team has been playing with a clear identity. His compatriot, Erik ten Hag, has been managing United for over two years now. And yet, his team plays without an identity. They don’t have a clear playing style either. Liverpool, even more compact under their new manager, look serious title contenders. On the first day of September, United’s Premier League title challenge was over (practically).
At the post-match press conference, Ten Hag came out swinging. Asked if United’s 3-0 humiliation against Liverpool was down to the players or the coaching, the manager said: “What do you mean? Maybe you can explain to me the mistakes that we make regularly.” He went on: “I think we won after (Manchester) City the most trophies in English football, so I’m sorry for you.”
It offered a throwback to Jose Mourinho’s ‘respect’ rant. “3-0, 3-0. Do you know what this is? 3-0. But it also means three Premierships and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me and two for them two (Pep Guardiola and Manuel Pellegrini). So, respect man; respect, respect, respect.”
That was August 2018, on the heels of United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Four months later, Mourinho was gone. A manager starts fighting his corner and resorts to stuff like xGs (expected goals) when he is under serious pressure. The Liverpool game yesterday felt like the beginning of the end for Ten Hag. At this rate, he should be gone in October or November. Gareth Southgate, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Thomas Tuchel are the three frontrunners to replace him. The problem is that the new manager will have to inherit Ten Hag’s players, a squad loaded with footballers from the Dutch league. So another season threatens to become a write-off for United.
Even into his third year, Ten Hag seemingly doesn’t know his players’ strengths and weaknesses. His use of Marcus Rashford is a case in point. The 26-year-old winger is coming inside, which is not his strength. Rashford is comfortable at unleashing his pace behind a right-back. And yet, despite not being used properly, Rashford created two gilt-edged chances for Joshua Zirkzee, only to see the striker – a £33.8million summer signing – miss them. He would regain his mojo under a better manager.
Ten Hag’s structureless football and an unbalanced 4-2-4 formation is a reason why Kobbie Mainoo, the club’s brightest young talent, is getting isolated in the midfield. Mainoo looked a different player under Southgate at the Euros. Ten Hag was given a stay of execution by United’s new football hierarchy in the summer. As it turned out, it was a mistake. A course correction is due, and the sooner it is done, the better.
Beyond the managerial change, United have become a bit like West Indies cricket – both seemingly in terminal decline. Despite winning two T20 World Cups over the last 12 years, West Indies have long ceased to be a force to reckon with in international cricket. United, on the other hand, have become a Cup team. “In the league position you see if there’s any progress for me, that’s always the bread and butter of the season that you see how capable you are of coping with ups and downs,” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had said when he was the United manager. “Any cup competition can give you a trophy, but sometimes it’s more of an ego thing from other managers and clubs to finally win something.” Solskjaer had nailed it.
Coming back to West Indies cricket and United, the former doesn’t have money, while the Red Devils are a commercial behemoth. But United have become a prisoner of a rotten culture and it is down to 10 years of mismanagement. Casemiro’s £70-million signing on a reported weekly wage of £350,000 was an example of how badly the club was run before INEOS took control of its football side. The new management wanted to offload Casemiro this summer, but even the Saudi league apparently rejected the 32-year-old. The Brazilian was the culprit-in-chief in United’s downfall yesterday.
United are playing serious catch-up. The gap between them and clubs like City, Arsenal and Liverpool has become almost unbridgeable. The manager will be changed, but the biggest challenge is to change the culture.