When Manchester United welcomed Brighton to Old Trafford on September 16, you could almost sense the unease of the red half of the city.
The Seagulls are an expansive and progressive side under Roberto De Zerbi, with their attacking play reminiscent of United at their best. With three wins in their opening four Premier League games, they were a dangerous opponent and no mistake.
United, on the other hand, had rather bungled their way through their first four league skirmishes. A controversial 1-0 win over Wolves was followed by a defeat at Tottenham, before another home victory – this time over Nottingham Forest – was followed by a loss at Arsenal.
The sense that the Red Devils are doing just about enough – but no more – under Erik ten Hag was exposed by Brighton, who were good value for their 3-1 triumph. As the fans filed out of Old Trafford at the end of the game, there was a sense that this was a changing of the guard; the Seagulls usurping United in the race for a top-four finish.
So for how much longer can Ten Hag’s men get by simply by doing just enough?
Trust the Process
At the time of writing, those who place a football bet or two may have noted that there are seven teams considered more likely than United to emerge as the outright winner in the Champions League odds.
Fire up the Premier League odds this weekend or any other and you will also note that Ten Hag’s team are rarely a red-hot favourite to win anymore – further confirmation of their descending status in the English top flight.
There is a saying in football to ‘trust the process’ the belief that, if a club sticks to their principles, they will eventually ride out the waves of variance and return to good form and results. But what that sentiment doesn’t consider is what if the process is flawed to begin with?
When Ten Hag headed to Manchester from Ajax in April 2022, he came with a reputation for a very clear philosophy on how he wanted his team to play. The emphasis was on playing out from the back, with fast transitions through the lines and players arriving in the final third at pace from deep – all of the hallmarks of the ‘Total Football’ approach favoured by the Amsterdam outfit over the years.
But that is nowhere to be seen at United; in its place is a slapdash approach that is seeing the Red Devils concede goals at will (ten in total against Tottenham, Forest, Arsenal and Brighton) while failing to create clear goalscoring chances of their own. After five rounds of Premier League action, Ten Hag’s men sat a lowly ninth in the xG table.
Those are trends that don’t exactly converge to success in the beautiful game…
Steadying the Ship
There are sympathies for Ten Hag, of course.
The off-field saga involving the sale of the club continues to undermine progress on the pitch, while injuries to the likes of Luke Shaw and Raphael Varane have undoubtedly made United weaker in defense and attack. According to newspaper reports, Bruno Fernandes, Scott McTominay, Victor Lindelof and Lisandro Martinez became embroiled in arguments after the Brighton game, which also saw the players booed off by the frustrated home faithful at Old Trafford.
Quite simply, Ten Hag has fires to fight – and there’s no guarantee he has the players to extinguish the doubts that have dogged his tenure in 2023.
🇲🇦 Our new number 4️⃣💪#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 10, 2023
The signing of Sofyan Amrabat should provide some ballast and discipline in midfield, with Casemiro cruelly exposed as the defensive shield already this term. But why did it take until deadline day for Amrabat to be signed? Why wasn’t the move accelerated earlier in the transfer window?
Questions, questions and more questions. For now, there are enough uncontrollable forces to ensure that Ten Hag is given some sympathy as he looks to right the United ship through choppy waters.
But when all of his key players return, if there’s no improvement in performance and process, the Dutchman’s ability to find ways to win even when his side aren’t playing well will be sorely tested.
