Man Utd standards as low as ever as €400m starting XI fails to win Ten Hag’s banker

Robin Bairner

• 26 Sept 2024 09:30 BST
• 4 min read

Manchester United’s 1-1 draw against Twente in the Europa League at Old Trafford is not a result that will define the club’s season, but it was a performance that sums up the rank mediocrity that the Glazer brothers allowed to become endemic at the club.

Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag deployed a starting XI that was bought for comfortably more than €400 million, despite including academy graduate Marcus Rashford and free transfer Christian Eriksen, yet they were unable to overcome an opponent seven points off the pace in the Eredivisie.

Ten Hag is supposed to be a student of the Dutch game, drawing a disproportionate number of his signings from his homeland. On top of this, he played six years for Twente. It is a club he should know inside out. If there was any Manchester United manager ever with the credentials to beat Wednesday’s opponents it was him.

“This was the no brainer, this was the banker,” as Gary Neville might say.

Except it was not.

Christian Eriksen gave United a first-half lead with an opportunist finish but was then part culpable for the equaliser. But then, which Man Utd player was not?

Bart van Rooij was allowed to advance through a series of embarrassing challenges in the build up to the Dane’s giveaway of possession, while Andre Onana left a gaping hole at his near post that Sam Lammers was able to exploit.

Sam Lammers, the forward dumped to Twente for just €2m in the summer by Scottish Premiership club Rangers because his performances in Glasgow had been so utterly abject. If you know, you know; if you don’t, it’s probably better not to waste your time finding out.

After the game, when Twete were celebrating like they had won the whole competition, Ten Hag spouted excuses about his team only giving “99%”, but in reality, Twente were a side this €400m Manchester United should have blown away.

Ten Hag still retains fan support

Prior to the game, TNT Sport, as part of their buildup coverage, asked fans outside Old Trafford the marks they would give Ten Hag since arriving at the club.

Supporters broadly gave the Dutchman, who many thought was fortunate to survive a two-week season-review process in the summer, 7s and 8s out of 10, with some even giving him full marks.

Really!? Is this the rank mediocrity that Manchester United has become? Is the dominant force of English football for much of the 1990s and 2000s now content with a draw against Twente and the manager admitting a lack of effort?

Remember, this is a team with one win in nine European matches. Sure, Ten Hag can be forgiven for being outmatched by Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool domestically, but not Copenhagen, Galatasaray and Twente on the continental scene.

Man Utd will, of course, progress to the next round of the Europa League – with 24 of 32 teams doing so, it is impossible for them not to – but the values that once made the club so great have gone.