Analysis

Erik ten Hag and Man Utd floundering again after Tottenham loss but should INEOS have seen it coming?

Man Utd's performance in their 3-0 loss to Tottenham was described as "disgusting" by Sky Sports' Gary Neville on Sunday; Erik ten Hag was backed by the club's decision-makers in the summer and retains their backing now but are his continued struggles any surprise?

Nick Wright

Comment and Analysis @nicholaspwright

Monday 30 September 2024 14:11, UK

A shambolic defensive display culminating in a heavy defeat. A dejected group of players and a manager insisting he needs more time. The most damning thing about Manchester United’s capitulation against Tottenham is that it all felt so familiar.

Erik ten Hag could point to Bruno Fernandes's 42nd-minute red card as a mitigating factor. But his claim that it "changed the game" did not stack up. United were awful even with 11 men. In fact, they had less possession and fewer shots in the first half than in the second.

"It's one of the worst performances I've seen under Ten Hag," said Sky Sports' Gary Neville afterwards. "And that's saying something." Astonishingly, this was the 23rd fixture in which they have conceded three or more goals under Ten Hag, making up nearly 20 per cent of his 123 games in charge.

It is a higher percentage than any of United's previous five managers, dating back to David Moyes and including Ralf Rangnick, under whom they finished with a record-low points total.

The numbers look even worse in comparison with those of other Premier League sides.

Since the start of last season, only relegated Sheffield United have conceded three or more goals on more occasions. Manchester United's total of 16 in 44 games in that timeframe is eight times as high as Arsenal's and nearly five as high as Manchester City's.

Their latest defeat could easily have been by an even bigger margin. Over the course of the 90 minutes at Old Trafford, Tottenham peppered their goal with 24 shots, gleefully exploiting the space Ten Hag's side leave available to their opponents on a routine basis.

It is no exaggeration to say they are the most defensively open side in the Premier League under Ten Hag. Consider the fact that, since the start of last term, they have faced 20 or more shots 16 times. It is the most by any side, including even last year's relegated teams.

Exclude Sheffield United, Burnley and Luton, and West Ham are the only side out of the other 16 to have even reached to double figures.

Not quite in a league of their own, then, but Manchester United are not far off. The numbers are bewilderingly bad for a club of their standing with aspirations of challenging the elite again.

All of which raises serious questions about how they got here.

Ten Hag can of course point to the two trophies he has won during his tenure. Their FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May, following Carabao Cup success in the previous year, undoubtedly strengthened his position when it came to the summer.

But the progress of any side is best measured by league performance and it is difficult to argue with Jamie Redknapp's assertion on Sunday that United are "going backwards". Having finished third in his first season and a record-low of eighth in his second, United now sit 12th, with seven points from six games.

The club's INEOS decision-makers cannot reasonably claim to have been caught off guard by these developments given they are merely a continuation of what came before.

In fact, United's average of 1.17 points per game in the Premier League this season is nearly identical to their average of 1.23 points per game in the final three months of last term.

The hope was that another round of spending in the transfer market, an easing of their injury list, and a reshuffle of Ten Hag's coaching team might facilitate a change of fortunes, and that the decision to trigger the one-year extension in the Dutchman's contract might be vindicated.

But Sunday's loss came with something close to his strongest side, a side which included four summer signings worth a combined total of £147m. In total, six of the 11 starters were bought to the club during his tenure, along with six of the nine substitutes. This was his squad as he has helped to shape it.

What is clear is that the issues go deeper than personnel.

Ten Hag's system continues to look deeply flawed, with Tottenham just the latest opponent to exploit the huge spaces left behind their full-backs and either side of an overworked holding midfielder. Manuel Ugarte's torrid full Premier League debut on Sunday showed it is not just a Casemiro problem.

Tottenham's second goal just after half-time typified their structural issues. Amazingly, left-back Diogo Dalot was their furthest man forward at the point Spurs broke, leaving Lisandro Martinez in a two-vs-one against Brennan Johnson and Dejan Kulusevski, who were able to easily race past him before combining to score.

It was another bewilderingly soft goal to concede for Manchester United, starting as it did in an innocuous position in the Tottenham half. The manner in which it played out is even more damning considering it came only minutes after Ten Hag's team talk.

Of course, the players are not free of blame for their poor performances. As mentioned by Neville on Sunday, Christian Eriksen's comments that their opponents "wanted it more" after the Europa League draw against Twente in midweek are a red flag.

But it is impossible to ignore how many of their issues come back to the man in the dugout. The biggest question is how Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues did not see all this coming.