Where is it going so wrong for Ten Hag and Manchester United?

Where is it going so wrong for Ten Hag and Manchester United?

Written by Ryan Murphy…

Where is it going wrong for Erik Ten Hag? 

Last night saw Manchester United’s Carabao Cup defence come to an embarrassing end as they were outplayed by Newcastle United in a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford.

Following on from the humiliating 3-0 defeat in the Manchester derby at the weekend, last night demanded a bounce-back to show what the team is really about.

Alas, it just turned out to be more of the same, and you would really have to wonder where it’s all going wrong for Erik Ten Hag and Manchester United this season.

Same old problems for Ten Hag and United.

United currently sit eight in the Premier League, eleven points off leaders Tottenham and seven points shy of the top four.

If you were to take a look at their last five Premier league games, you would see that United have taken nine points from a possible fifteen – which would maybe suggest that things aren’t all too bad.

But the manner of the defeats is the problem, with lack of fight and spirit around the team still evident, especially among the more experienced players.

Manchester United supporters voiced their opinions on social media about players “walking around” during one of the biggest games of the year for Manchester United at the weekend. 

And club legend Roy Keane echoed those frustrations by describing Bruno Fernandes as “the opposite” of what he would look for in a captain.

Goals and injuries.

In the ten Premier league games Manchester United have played this season, the team have scored just eleven goals (with three coming against Nottingham Forest in August.

Only one goal has come from the strikers in the squad, with Marcus Rashford getting on the scoresheet back in August against Nottingham Forest.

To put it another way: the strikers have gone almost 2 months without scoring a single goal. The leading goalscorer for Manchester United is midfielder Scott McTominay with three to his name.

Readers might remember that Ten Hag wanted to get rid of McTominay in the summer transfer window but a deal to West Ham failed to materialise.

What does that say about United’s transfer strategy? McTominay isn’t the answer to the club’s problems but the fact that he is currently Ten Hag’s star performer raises lot of questions.

United have had more than their fair share of Injuries so far this season with crucial players such as Casemiro, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw and many others currently recently sidelined. 

Added to this was Ten Hag’s decision to suspend Jadon Sancho from the first team due to a disciplinary issue. 

With fans getting frustrated with the poor results and the frankly embarrassing performances on the field, question marks are starting to be asked about the future of Erik Ten Hag at the club.

Does he have what it takes to turn this around and get United fighting for the top four once again?

Well he will hope a revival kick-starts on Saturday as United make the trip to Craven Cottage to face Fulham.