Erik ten Hag insisted he was “not thinking about” being sacked after Manchester United’s capitulation at home to Tottenham, but the question is whether those above the Dutchman are now minded to make a change in the dugout.
To suggest United’s latest embarrassment was the nadir for Ten Hag’s side is not without merit, but would be to ignore so many comparable defeats under the head coach.
United’s first half display was, undoubtedly, as poor as anything any team has produced in the Premier League this season, as Ange Postecoglou’s vibrant and unique Spurs tore through the hosts at will.
It took the visitors just three minutes to establish a lead they never looked espeically likely to relinquish, Micky van de Ven following FC Twente’s blueprint in mid-week by simply running full pelt at United, whose players seemed to melt away from the rampaging centre-half.
Van de Ven’s brilliant cross was turned in by Brennan Johnson at the back post, the winger’s fourth consecutive game with a goal – underlining Spurs’ improvement since their defeat in the north London derby.
Ten Hag naturally suggested the straight red card for Bruno Fernandes shortly before the interval was a turning point but, in reality, Spurs were threatening to run up a big score long before the United captain clumsily raked James Maddison with his studs after losing balance.
If Heung-min Son had been fit to start ahead of Timo Werner, Spurs would surely have been more clinical but the German’s two missed one-one-ones with Andre Onana were ultimately irrelevant, as the outstanding Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke added further goals in the second half.
While Spurs were superb – and they are beginning to find a menacing rhythm under Postecoglou, helping to silence the Australian’s own doubters – United were a rabble.
In common with every major humiliation under Ten Hag, they were desperately short of a game-plan or identity, leaving you to wonder exactly what the head coach works on in training.
Ten Hag’s hollow call after the game for “more time” felt almost laughable, particularly considering he has been in the job a year longer than Postecoglou and two years longer than Arne Slot, whose Liverpool side are top of the Premier League.
From the first few minutes, when Diego Dalot simply gave up tracking Johnson’s run for the opening goal, the difference in application between the two teams was striking.
Spurs were relentless off the ball, constantly harrying and pressing United into mistakes, led by the tireless Solanke.
United’s forwards, by contrast, were completely disinterested in tracking back, while their midfield was incapable of containing Kulusevski and Maddison, Postecoglou’s twin No8s, who were outstanding.
United became indisciplined and Fernandes’ dismissal appeared as much down to frustration that Maddison was running the game as an unfortunate slip as he tried to close down the Spurs playmaker. Substitute Mason Mount and Lisandro Martinez were booked for rash fouls in the second half.
Kobbie Mainoo was forced off injured at the same time as Fernandes, appearing to gesture to his hamstring and adding to Ten Hag’s concerns.
Ten Hag will take another hammering over the coming days, the noise likely to reach fever pitch again, and if United lose to Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa next weekend, it is hard to imagine the 54-year-old remaining in a job.
United have now lost 3-0 in consecutive home league games to Liverpool and Spurs, and it was, after all, back-to-back defeats at Old Trafford which did for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the end.
But as United's hiearchy, including INEOS sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford, CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox, watched stony faced from the directors’ box as the rain hammered down in the second half, they must accept a considerable share of the blame too.
United plumbed new depths in the Premier League and Champions League last season, producing historically poor campaigns in both, and yet Ten Hag was kept on after the FA Cup Final win over Manchester City in spite of overwhelming evidence that he was out of his depth.
Indeed, he was backed with more of his signings – Manuel Ugarte was overrun against Spurs and Joshua Zirkzee unable to provide a focal point – for big money in the summer.
Sir. Jim Ratcliffe, United’s new part-owner, effectively bottled the summer’s big call, preferring instead to muddle along with Ten Hag in the hope of a dramatic improvement which, barring the odd standalone result, has never looked likely.
If the much-loathed Glazers and their puppets had made a similar call, they would rightly be being derided, so INEOS, Ratcliffe, Brailsford and Co. must not escape criticism for the club’s latest crisis.
The good news is that the situation remains salvageable if the board acts quickly; United are still in all three cup competitions and can quickly make up ground in the league with a run of results.
Muddling along with Ten Hag until the next humiliation surely cannot continue to be the plan for much longer.
