The case for the defence. Difficult to make this week, granted.
Back in the Netherlands, Erik Ten Hag is currently being dismissed as a ‘pathetic little man’, while other prominent columnists have hit out at him for being ‘stupid and naive’ in his transfer dealings.
Mail Sport reported on Monday that there is a feeling among players in the dressing room that the sacking of Ten Hag feels imminent following the aberration against Tottenham.
But to make the case in defence of Ten Hag, and the idea of sticking with him through this latest adversity storm, I first turn to the words of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, rather than my own.
‘We’re not going to oscillate from Mourinho style to Guardiola style. That’s not the way we’ll run the club,’ Ratcliffe told reporters from the plush Ineos office in Knightsbridge back in February of this year.
Erik ten Hag pictured at Old Trafford on Sunday following his team’s 3-0 defeat by Tottenham
Ten Hag’s position at the club has come under intense scrutiny following that chastening result
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (left) said earlier this year that they don’t want to chop and change and want to trust in their plan – now it remains to be seen whether Ten Hag will survive as a result of that
‘Otherwise you’re changing everything all the time, you change your coach, you’ve got the wrong squad, the wrong trainer, we won’t do that. In modern football you need to decide what’s your path and you stuck to your path.’
There was more.
‘It’s not a 10-year plan. The fans would run out of patience if it was a 10-year plan. But it’s certainly a three-year plan to get there. To think that we’re going to be playing football as good as Manchester City played against Real Madrid last year by next season is not sensible. And if we give people false expectations, then they will get disappointed.
‘So I think the key thing is our trajectory, so that people can see that we’re making progress. I think it’s the club’s 150-year anniversary in 2028. If our trajectory is leading to a very good place in that sort of timeframe then we’d be very happy with that. Because it’s not easy to turn Manchester United into the world’s best football team.
‘It’s not a light switch. it’s not one of these things that changes overnight. We have to be careful we don’t rush at it in a way, you don’t want to run to the wrong solution rather than walk to the correct solution.
‘I know the world these days likes instant gratification but that’s not the case with football really.’
There is a lot in that to unpack, one being that Ineos, Ratcliffe and the shot callers at United these days, are working to a three-year plan. Another being that Ineos, Ratcliffe and the shot callers at United spelling out that playing attractive football this season was itself an unrealistic target. A third being that they don’t want to rush. Then there is the buzzword of ‘progress’. Is it being made?
How much Ratcliffe, who awkwardly squirmed in the mixed zone at Wembley Stadium after the FA Cup final when asked if Ten Hag would be kept on, wanted to keep the Dutchman in charge this summer remains up for debate.
Ten Hag delivered the FA Cup last season despite finishing eighth in the Premier League table
Thomas Tuchel met with Ratcliffe over the summer for lunch but the club stuck with Ten Hag
But the reality is the powers that be, who not-so-subtly flirted endlessly with a list of potential replacements including Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, did keep him, flying to meet him on holiday in Ibiza to get back on the same page.
Only last month new CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth came out defiantly in support of Ten Hag and the building blocks being put in place.
‘Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him,’ Berrada said before the 3-0 loss to Liverpool.
‘Erik has our full backing and we have worked very closely together, as Dan said before, in this [summer] transfer window. We’re going to continue working very closely with him to help him get the best results.’
It would all be rather embarrassing if this was nothing but lip service, wouldn’t it?
Ten Hag no longer has total autonomy on transfer dealings as he had prior to the arrival of Berrada, Ashworth and Co.
He is kept heavily involved but the signings of Leny Yoro, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee – all of whom have never worked previously with the manager – as well as Matthjis de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui were unanimously approved by all.
Those players need time to bed in. Ugarte has started just once in the Premier League since joining from Paris Saint-Germain, while Yoro is nursing a foot injury picked up in pre-season and has yet to make his Premier League debut.
Defenders Matthijs De Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui arrived at United from Bayern Munich as part of a joined-up transfer strategy led by sporting director Dan Ashworth (far right)
United also secured the signing of talented young forward Joshua Zirkzee from Bologna
Joshua Zirkzee scored on his debut in front of the Stretford End and while struggling he is figuring out how best to be effective, while De Ligt is building a partnership with Lisandro Martinez alongside him which many supporters are convinced will bear fruit long term.
There is also the obsession not just among the Ineos bosses but also at United on youth development and Ten Hag has a track record of being able to nurture and elevate young players.
Sources at Carrington speak to his due diligence in working with head of academy Nick Cox on providing a conveyor belt of talent to come in and out of his first team training sessions. The likes of Ethan Wheatley, Toby Collyer, Harry Amass, Habeeb Ogunneye and Louis Jackson are among those to have benefitted.
Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho are leading lights in the first team, while Rasmus Hojlund is only going to get better after hitting 16 goals in his debut season leading the line.
Injuries – more than 60 separate cases – were a major mitigating factor last season that was widely accepted en route to a disappointing eighth placed finish, albeit rounding out with an impressive FA Cup win.
And Ten Hag has been standing perilously close to the trap door before. Remember Crystal Palace away last season?
Kobbie Mainoo has become a leading light in the first team after progressing through the ranks
Ten Hag has received public backing from the club’s new senior leadership team last month
The Dutchman isn’t Teflon and knows poor results away to FC Porto and Aston Villa this week may seal his fate with even his staunchest defenders losing faith, but if Ineos and Ratcliffe meant what they said earlier this year then now is the time to show they trust their process.
‘It’s not a light switch,’ Ratcliffe said.
Now we’ll see how much faith they have in their plan – and the man tasked with undertaking it – before turning the lights out.