Manchester United decided to stick with Erik ten Hag in the summer “despite concerns about his ability to do the job on and off the pitch”, a report by ESPN reveals. Last season constituted a largely abysmal campaign for the club, though an unrelenting injury crisis provided something of an excuse for the stream of unacceptable performances and results. An 8th-placed finish in the Premier League, with a negative goal difference, and embarrassing early exits from the Champions League and Carabao Cup, was redeemed by an FA Cup triumph over Manchester City. Without this success, and the togetherness United showed on the Wembley pitch, it feels doubtful Ten Hag would have survived beyond the summer. Indeed, sources within the United dressing room reveal the squad were “expecting to start pre-season under a new manager.” There were even some who believed Gareth Southgate would be appointed as a replacement for Ten Hag. INEOS, who gained full control over the football operation at Old Trafford in February, conducted a comprehensive ‘end-of-season’ review to assess exactly where the campaign had gone so wrong for their new club. A number of prospective managers were considered as replacements for Ten Hag, with Thomas Tuchel reportedly the candidate the club came closest to appointing. However, after two-and-half weeks of deliberation, United’s new rulers decided to stick, rather than twist, with their manager. A one-year contract extension for Ten Hag followed with the club’s new executive structure, comprising Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox, throwing their full weight behind the Dutchman. The fact the new deal was simply a twelve month extension to his existing one did tacitly indicate that it was not a long-term demonstration of faith by INEOS in Ten Hag, however. And now, ESPN’s expose reveals, it’s evident why INEOS were so hesitant to continue with the former Ajax manager at the helm. The report describes “doubts” with Ten Hag’s approach, both on and off the pitch. The fact that United continue, even in his third season in Manchester, to look bereft of ideas and direction during games is a damning indictment on the Dutchman. He has presided over the Red Devils’ worst start to a Premier League campaign in history. They are yet to win a game in the Europa League and appear to be demonstrating many of the issues which plagued last year. Results and, perhaps even more crucially, performances will have to improve rapidly if Ten Hag is to keep his head above water at Old Trafford. Off the pitch, however, there are equally worrying concerns. A source at the club describes Ten Hag as “very blunt and direct”. This has not always played well with a United dressing room which fell into a state of unprofessionalism in the wake of Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement over a decade ago. But the Dutchman’s approach has also played a role in these issues. “He’s fundamentally an honest guy, but he had to be told last season to soften his approach with the players. He was too critical too often, but sometimes it was down to his use of English,” the source reveals. “He speaks the language, but he doesn’t have a great grasp of it or the nuances. For instance, he pissed off Casemiro last season for saying he was dropped for ‘football reasons.’ Erik meant ‘tactical’ reasons, but he ended up angering a multiple Champions League winner by suggesting he was criticising him as a footballer.” Often in interviews Ten Hag can come across poorly, adopting an abrasive tone. Yet this simply seems to be a combination of his blunt personality and an inability to speak perfect English. But it does strike an interesting comparison with Liverpool’s new manager – Arne Slot, who also swapped the Eredivisie for the Premier League – whose command of the English language is pristine. Slot has immediately settled into life on Merseyside and strikes a confident tone in interviews, undoubtedly helped by his ability to seamlessly translate his thoughts into words. Ten Hag can frequently be seen to struggle with this, and there is a question over whether this issue would also present itself in training at Carrington, given how often his team appear unable to translate his ideas onto the pitch. United’s manager has also had run-ins with several members of his squad, most notably Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford. These incidents are said to have created “disharmony” in the dressing room. ESPN describes how there was initially support “among the majority of players” for the decision to discipline Sancho for his social media outburst last season, but sources at Old Trafford reveal the “treatment was soon regarded as heavy-handed and displayed a lack of flexibility on Ten Hag’s part.” Similarly, sources contend Rashford’s “loss of form and focus last season was not helped by Ten Hag regularly criticising the player in media interviews – again partly exacerbated by his limited grasp of English.” But then it’s also not clear how much Rashford’s form or focus were affected by an unauthorised midweek bender in Belfast just days before a key FA Cup tie in January either. Ten Hag’s approach is described as “hardline” with some players struggling to boost their confidence under the uncompromising Dutchman. ESPN reveals “one senior player asked low-level members of staff to give him motivational talks before games to help his morale.” The stick rather than the carrot appears Ten Hag’s favoured means of leadership, but that is exactly what the vast majority of the United fanbase were crying out for in the dismal days of Ole Gunnar’s Solskjaer’s sacking and Ralf Rangnick’s inadequate interim period. While there are many areas Ten Hag can rightfully be questioned on, his unflinching demand for higher standards should not be one. But these demands will increasingly fall on deaf ears if the higher standards are not matched by a higher standing in the league table. The Dutch manager must begin translating his ideas into meaningful performances on the pitch if he is to survive at Old Trafford. He cannot afford another stream of poor results with the next international break – widely seen as a good time to make a managerial change – less than a month away and a host of winnable games for United before then. If the Dutchman sees his side continue to flounder, these “doubts” INEOS had going into the summer, which have undoubtedly only grown with the new campaign, will soon become too damaging for United’s new rulers to ignore.
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