Ten Hag is leaving Man Utd - and the players know it

Paul Macdonald

• Updated: 8 May 2024 09:58 BST
• 5 min read

Erik Ten Hag is heading for the Old Trafford exit door. Manchester United knows it, he knows it, the players know it, and potential future coaches know it, too.

It’s the only way to explain United’s catastrophic recent drop-off in form. Let’s be clear; United’s performances have been mediocre - to put it mildly - for roughly a year now. For every Liverpool FA Cup thriller, there is a litany of disasters that follow, some of which would make United’s all-time blooper reel.

Such as the 7-0 crushing against Liverpool, or the 4-0 misery at Brentford, then embarrassing capitulations such as two goals conceded in injury time to Chelsea to lose 4-3, or somehow crashing out to Copenhagen in the Champions League group stages.

But some elements of those displays had a degree of freakishness to them, and there were spells when the team appeared at least engaged, or had some tactical discipline. But all that’s been obliterated in the past month. Something’s happened, and the performances confirm this.

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The above data shows expected threat for and against - basically how much danger is posed to United’s goal versus their own. After a decent start this season, the lines begin to diverge and the allowed threat rises to never-before-seen levels.

Since facing Brentford on 30 March, United have conceded over three xG three times, conceded more xG to Burnley and Bournemouth and, on Monday, were battered all over the pitch by Crystal Palace, a culmination of a total downing tools of a squad of players - and coach - who are awaiting the inevitable.

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They attempted just three tackles in the middle third of the pitch. Casemiro, filling in at centre-back alongside Jonny Evans is not just burned out, but so lacking in desire that it’s difficult to imagine a professional appearing to care less about the end result. It paints a stark picture of the situation - and maybe there’s a clear reasoning behind it.

FootballTransfers understands that INEOS will look to replace Ten Hag in the summer, and it’s hard to argue that the Dutchman's mannerisms suggest that he knows it. Ten Hag has been particularly confrontational in recent press conferences, even chiding journalists for addressing him by saying ‘Good Morning’ rather than ‘Good Afternoon’, as a schoolteacher would.

He’s defending performances when his team have been outshot and outfought with a forthright attitude, and is at massive pains to regularly highlight the injury problems, of which he at least in part needs to accept some responsibility.

Bayern Munich - his former employers of course, where he coached the second team from 2013-2015 - have suddenly emerged as an interested party in securing his services, and it does smell like it’s convenient timing for a man who knows he simply has to get out.

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And the reason why there won’t be any announcement now is two-fold; one, the FA Cup final against Manchester City and two, United’s main target, Gareth Southgate, is otherwise engaged with preparing England for the Euros.

Southgate is openly admired by INEOS and regularly his ‘statesmanlike’ qualities have been referenced. The feeling is that United need an articulate, well-liked face of the club as well as a manager, one who could build a strong, cohesive coaching team around him, as he has done effectively with England.

In 1990, Bobby Robson was out of contract with England after the World Cup and word leaked that he had agreed to join PSV after the tournament was over, leading to a hectic media furore that completely overshadowed England’s start to the tournament. There’s a significant desire to avoid the same outcome here and the scrutiny would be tenfold given that the biggest club in the country are also involved. No-one wants this, so there will likely be no announcement any time soon.

But what it means is a team, and a set of players, left in complete limbo. The squad doesn’t have anything to gain from Ten Hag, and him, little from them. So they are at an impasse which leads to performances such as the Palace debacle.

So, change is coming. It’s a matter of time. But until then, there could be a few more excruciating performances like this. And it’s the end for another Fergie successor who just wasn’t big enough to fill his boots.