Coming off an impressive debut season, Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag should be on the hot seat looking at the indifferent start the Red Devils have had to open the 2023-2024 season.
United’s historically bitter rival Liverpool on the other hand, has at least something to smile about looking at the number of minutes newbies Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister have played together four games into the season.
MacAllister and former RB Leipzig midfielder Szoboszlai have played 672 minutes together which is a higher mark than Alex Oxlaide-Chamberlain and Naby Keita (625 minutes) managed together through the whole of the 2022-2023 season.
Speaking of MacAllister, the Argentine player’s former team Brighton and Hove Albion is the immediate next opponent for Manchester United and the Seagulls go into the game with a ton of confidence and serenity.
Two wins and two losses in four EPL games isn’t the most terrible start to a 38 game league season but for a team that spent over $170 million on new recruits on top of heavy investment pumped into Ten Hag’s debut season, Man United should have at least nine points from a possible 12 to begin the new campaign.
Coming off the international break, there is palpable belief Man United loses to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, September 16. Looking at how Brighton has carried on from its impressive showing last season, it is fair to pick the Seagulls for the win this weekend.
After all, Man United’s pair of wins has been registered in unimpressive fashion against mid to lower tier clubs Nottingham Forest and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Aside a major blip against West Ham United, Brighton are the same outfit of the 2022-2023 season; the same team that captured the hearts, minds and eyes of idealists and even the staunchest “hater” with its silky free flowing brand of football.
Unlike Man United, De Zerbi’s team is settled and not as burdened with bad off the pitch PR in connection with its players conduct. United is without two of its top inverted wing options in Antony and Mason Greenwood who are implicated in cases of alleged sexual misconduct and that is one of several issues that ought to be a major headache for Ten Hag.
However, in an interesting twist of fate, that isn’t the case as mitigating factors have come to the aid of the former Ajax head coach.
From a team perspective, should Man United fail to build on last season’s run, Ten Hag won’t be blamed for the disappointment looking at the chaos in the team and here is how Ten Hag gets absolved of blame in all this.
Antony and Greenwood Legal troubles
Sexual allegations slapped on both players and the lingering results could feel like an albatross on the neck of a manager who would have to consistently address questions on both players at every turn. However, Ten Hag doesn’t have to do so as Greenwood has been shipped off to Getafe on loan while Anthony has been excused by the team.
In case both players return to Old Trafford, Ten Hag wouldn’t be the Bad Guy responsible for that since the final decision lies with the much maligned team owners, The Glazers and club CEO Richard Arnold who isn’t the most liked guy at Old Trafford.
The American Billionaire family can’t do anything right in the eyes of most Man United fans even after consistently supporting its managers over the years to the tune of over a billion pounds. Having such a big fall guy or in this case fall guys, is just perfect for Ten Hag to avoid intense scrutiny over his personnel and tactical choices.
Jadon Sancho fallout
Ten Hag has a lot of cache in the bank in the Jadon Sancho drama since the Dutch coach has been a strong defender of Sancho in the former Borussia Dortmund player’s many down moments. Ten Hag sounded positive on several occasions when discussing Sancho and what he adds to the team but on the flip side, Sancho quite frankly hasn’t lived up to the hefty price tag or hype since leaving the Signal Iduna Park.
Based on last season’s performance and his successful time with Ajax, Ten Hag has shown that he is a quality coach and that is enough to believe his scathing remarks on Sancho’s training habits.
Rather than have the manager be solely responsible for entangling this thorny issue as is often the case, Man United’s CEO Richard Arnold and football director John Murtough are reported to take active roles in ending the feud. The result is a personal training programme for the English winger away from the team
Should Sancho return and improve his performances, Ten Hag gets credit for that; should Sancho leave Man United, Ten Hag still gets credit as a strong disciplinarian and one who puts the team’s needs ahead of a player’s needs regardless of the player’s profile.
Ten Hag’s handling of Cristiano Ronaldo en route to winning the Carabao Cup and making an FA Cup finals appearance would be an example to buttress this belief.
Marquee signings slow start
While new signings like Moussa Diaby, Sandro Tonali and Dominik Szoboszlai are shining away, Man United’s top recruits are yet to deliver a statement performance. While Ten Hag played a key role in Mason Mount and Rasmus Hojlund’s transfers to Manchester United, the manager has an alibi he can lean on to deflect any questions on his scouting abilities.
Hojlund is working his way back into form from a back injury, Amrabat got to Man United injured and Mount’s horrible run since joining Man United is on hold as he deals with a hamstring injury.
Physical ailments can buy Ten Hag’s signings time to get the confidence and form to play up to the value of their contracts and possibly beyond such values.
As an aside, Antony’s suspension and subsequent time off also buys Ten Hag time to get his very pricey signing to be more consistent and more productive on his return.
On and off the pitch, matters are far from good for Man United fans, owners and players but the Red Devils manager Erik Ten Hag is in a better place than other stakeholders and should be the last person to fret in the rocky phase the club is going through.
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