I thought I would make a brief comment on the sacking of Erik Ten Hag as I usually aim to comment on all things Manchester United.
I wish him the very best of luck, but I think that he was never able to implement his principles into the team.
He was semi-successful in his first season and looked to replicate that ever since. However, this style of play is so far removed from his playing style at Ajax, and the players that he had signed were never able to carry these out.
He wants high pressers, a midfield that can control and dominate play, and an aggressive defence.
His forward line are not set up spectacularly to press, with Mason Mount as the best presser but he is always injured, and if you play him then that means you play him as a false 9 and have to omit a goal threat in Hojlund or Zirkzee, as you cannot bench Fernandes. The forward line are not adept pressers. The midfield next to Bruno Fernandes are not pivot players, ball carriers and spectacular passers of the ball. There is a reason that Ten Hag was chasing Frenkie De Jong for so long. The back line is not particularly mobile and positionally astute. You can now see why this did not work out.
The board decided to trigger the extension clause in his contract at the start of the season rather than offering him a new contract. I suspect this was a superficial act when in reality they wanted to see whether things would get better, but if not, this decision was always ready to be made.
Ruben Anorim is reported to be the next manager. He is incredibly flexible in his formations and set up, well-liked and comes from a successful stint in Lisbon.
I suspect fans will get behind him, as will I. However, do people know that Ten Hag’s Ajax team beat his Sporting team 5-1 in 2018?
In Manchester United fashion, I suspect Ten Hag will get a big job and succeed, and I really hope he does, but this fit was never correct.
14th in the table, awful away form in the League and we have not won in Europe in a year. This is startling. Ten Hag is not to blame for his players not scoring against West Ham. He is not to blame if the players cannot fulfil his philosophies. However, this is Manchester United. Let’s take stock of the next few months and see.