Ten Hag despairs at United setback
Perhaps the comparison isn’t entirely fair. Fabian Hürzeler is 31, new and fresh and clearly exhilarated by the process of climbing the mountain. Erik ten Hag is 54 and in his third season as Manchester United manager, which is enough to wear anybody down. It doesn’t help that Ten Hag’s socklessness makes it seem as if he’s forever on the verge of kicking his shoes off, stuffing his face with Toblerone and driving barefoot to Dundee. But where Hürzeler speaks impressively about processes and the dangers of euphoria, bright-eyed and enthusiastic, Ten Hag seems (understandably) despairing of a team that, in the fifth minute of injury time, can let Simon Adingra cut back on his stronger right foot to cross for João Pedro’s winner. “We have to be more clinical in both boxes,” may be true, but why are they not already? How do you put that right if players aren’t doing the basics? Jonathan Wilson
