If you are a Manchester United fan suffering from a case of deja vu, you are not alone. At this moment, every fan of this once great club is probably feeling the same way.
On 27th October, Man Utd were beaten 2-1 by West Ham, consigning them to their 4th defeat and their worst start to a season. They currently sit 14th in the table having scored only 8 goals in 9 games. They have not won a game in Europe for over a year and have been poor for the last 14 months.
This was attributed to a bunch of factors including injuries, management, change in ownership, and the overall mess that is Manchester United FC. Overall, there was also a feeling that manager Erik ten Hag had struggled to impose an identity on the team despite spending over 500 million euros on players.
During his 2+ years at the club, the Dutchman has won two trophies but has struggled to get the team performing on a consistent basis. While, he was hired for his systems which he had established at Ajax, he was stubborn in adapting to the Premier League. He was hampered by poor midfield signings which were not his profiles (Casemiro, Ugarte).
New owners INEOS, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe had to make their first big decision over the summer – To retain or sack Erik ten Hag. Based on what has transpired over the last three days, it is clear they got it horribly wrong.
On Monday 28th October, the club announced they had parted ways with the manager. It was also announced that assistant manager Ruud Van Nilsterooy would take temporary charge until a replacement was found.
That is good news, right? You would be forgiven for thinking that way. After all, ten hag hadn’t exactly covered himself in glory with his growing excuses and delusions of the team being on the right track. However, these were issues which were highlighted throughout last season.
Despite these issues, the club decided to retain the manager and even backed him heavily in the summer transfer window with a spend of over 100 million euros on players like De Ligt, Mazraoui, Zirkzee, Yoro, and Ugarte. They even appointed assistants like Nilsterooy and Rene Hake.
Was this decision based on the FA Cup final victory over Man City? I don’t think so. The club certainly made efforts to sign a new manager, although their efforts were unsuccessful. Some of the names considered were Tuchel, De Zerbi, Potter, and Sporting manager Ruben Amorim (more on him later).
While sacking Erik ten Hag will definitely prevent it from getting worse, it can also be considered as the season being written off. Any new manager who comes in will have to focus on working with the squad at hand and will struggle to get their players until next summer.
I had written an article about whether the club should sack Erik ten Hag a few months back. The link is here – https://dribblesensei.com/should-manchester-united-sack-erik-ten-hag/
I had argued that the Dutchman needs time but if he fails to deliver results, should be sacked at the end of the season. I still stand by what I wrote then. The decision to sack the manager should have been taken over the summer or next summer.
Then there is rumored links to Sporting manager Ruben Amorim. The 39 year old Portuguese has been linked to a whole lot of top clubs including Premier League rivals Chelsea and Liverpool. Man Utd are ready to pay Sporting the 10 million Euro release clause to get their man.
This raises further questions. If they are ready to do it now, why didn’t they just do it over the summer. It would have saved the club a lot of money and would have allowed the new manager more time to adapt.
Then there are the reasons why Liverpool and Chelsea couldn’t reach an agreement with Amorim. They were apparently put off by his preference towards a back three. By all accounts, Amorim seems to be a manager who is adamant about his system. Just like Erik ten hag.
The Premier League requires adaptability from managers, even more so than tactical flexibility. This is a brutal lesson learnt by Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp who struggled in their initial season. However, to their credit they adapted perfectly and managed to succeed. The same can not be said for ten Hag.
Is Amorim capable of adapting? It is hard to say. Like ten Hag, the Portuguese has won trophies and implemented a successful system with a team in an inferior league. The fact is Man Utd don’t have the squad to properly implement a back 3, with the majority of their signings aimed towards reinforcing the existing defense as well as the midfield and forward line.
INEOS faced their first huge decision this summer and for various reasons, they stuck with the manager and backed him. They should have stuck with the manager until at least Christmas before making such a drastic decision. With this, they have already written off the season even before the major cup competitions have come into play.
This sort of decision making isn’t new for Manchester united. They have been making such brain dead impulsive decisions since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. However things were expected to change once Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS took ownership. They have done well with restructuring the board and overall management with the poaching of Omar Berrada from Man City and Dan Ashworth from Newcastle.
However, this decision has once again proved that the new management has retained the old ways….and that is disappointing!
