When he needed a result and a performance to potentially save his job and avoid Manchester United’s worst start to a Premier League season, Erik ten Hag didn’t simply roll out the big guns he has bought as part of a £600million transfer spend over two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.
When the heat was on and he entered what felt like the last chance saloon, Ten Hag didn’t try to blow Aston Villa out of the water with big names and big price tags.
No, he named a line-up for what could feasibly have been his last game as United manager that contained three star pupils from the club’s academy (Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo), two free transfers (Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans) and three players he inherited after arriving at Old Trafford from Ajax (Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot).
The other three (Rasmus Hojlund, Andre Onana and Noussair Mazraoui) starting at Villa Park on Sunday were the only ones who had been signed as part of Ten Hag’s rebuild, at a cost of £136.2m.
A further £347.1m-worth of players signed under the Dutchman were on the bench, where Casemiro sat alongside Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Joshua Zirkzee, Antony, Manuel Ugarte and Altay Bayindir.
Erik ten Hag pictured on the sidelines during Man United’s 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Sunday
Rasmus Hojlund – who joined United for £72m last summer – started up front at Villa Park
Rotation is one thing but it really wasn’t the best advert for the recruitment which began in 2022 and continued this summer under the new leadership group put together by minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
Maguire and Evans started in central defence ahead of De Ligt and Martinez, having replaced them towards the end of Thursday’s Europa League draw in Porto. Maguire scored an injury-time equaliser at the Estadio do Dragao, and Evans was the man of the match at Villa Park on Sunday by some distance three months short of his 37th birthday.
Over on Sky Sports, his former United teammate Dimitar Berbatov could hardly hide his contempt. ‘Everybody on the pitch should be ashamed because Evans is man of the match at 36,’ said Berbatov.
Berbatov had a point but it is also testament to the levels of performance Evans has set himself in his second spell at United, having learned his trade under Sir Alex Ferguson.
When Maguire was forced off at half-time, De Ligt came on and struggled again. Mazraoui felt unwell and was also replaced at the interval by Victor Lindelof, a central defender, because United’s other right back Diogo Dalot is still filling in on the left. Dalot has struggled there this season but at least got a block on Jaden Philogene’s goal-bound effort in injury-time.
Antony (centre) – who United paid £86m to sign from Ajax in 2022 – came off the bench
United’s best player of the match against Villa was 36-year-old defender Jonny Evans (right)
In midfield, Eriksen made his sixth start in 10 games this season alongside Mainoo after moving ahead of Casemiro. The Brazilian had to wait until the 85th minute for his opportunity, reflecting his reduced status.
Up front, Hojlund put himself about to little effect until he was replaced by Zirkzee who has been alarmingly poor. The same can, of course, be said for Antony who has been around a lot longer than Zirkzee and become a symbol of under-achievement under Ten Hag.
Manchester United, a club synonymous with attacking football and flair, have scored five times in seven Premier League games this season having finished with a negative goal difference last term.
The expected goals stats might be higher this time around but that doesn’t get you points, and United were only marginally more threatening than a Villa side suffering a hangover from their emotional Champions League win over Bayern Munich in midweek as the two teams fought out a dull draw on Sunday.
Fernandes came closest to a goal for United when he hit the bar with a second-half free kick, but the captain is going through his most difficult moment in England after back-to-back red cards and a period when his creative spark has gone out.
Ten Hag talks about a process but it is hard to buy into his vision when so many of the players he has signed to take United to the next level either aren’t playing or simply playing badly.
Three more are injured but Leny Yoro has yet to play a competitive game for the club, Tyrell Malacia hasn’t been seen May 2023 and Mason Mount has made 10 starts in 15 months due to injury. They have cost another £133.6m by the way.
While Ten Hag perhaps deserves praise for a pragmatic approach that wouldn’t be swayed by price tags and reputations when it came to picking his team at Villa Park, United’s line-up cast an unfavourable light on the recruitment since he took over – as it did when his two most expensive signings, Antony and Hojlund, were named on the bench when he won the FA Cup in May.
An emphasis on youth means United didn’t pursue moves for Harry Kane and Ivan Toney over the past two summers, preferring instead to sign Hojlund and Zirkzee. The focus on Dutch signings, or at least players whom Ten Hag knew from his time in Holland, is hard to ignore.
As the international break begins, the new United hierarchy must decide if Ten Hag’s way is still the best way. Judging by his team selection at Villa Park, even he remains unconvinced by the players he has signed.