Ten Hag responsible for Weghorst Man Utd failure

Ronan Murphy

• 3 Apr 2023 12:16 CDT
• 3 min read

Wout Weghorst was rightly panned for his display in the 2-0 defeat to Newcastle on Sunday.

Manchester United looked out of sorts against a Magpies side who knew their blueprint inside out and were able to dominate at St James’ Park.

Man Utd were trying to funnel their attacks with the Burnley loanee acting as a provider to the flanks. But the system didn’t work. Nor did Weghorst, who was brought in as Cristiano Ronaldo's replacement, look very physically imposing. Indeed, these were all the attributes he was brought in to excel at - but he’s failed so far.

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The Glazers have plenty of shortcomings, but they did back Ten Hag in the summer. Of course, the number one target Frenkie de Jong did not arrive, but that was because he refused terms after the club bid for the Barcelona midfielder. Among their purchases include Antony, who arrived for €95million, Casemiro who arrived for €70m, Lisandro Martinez for €57m, and Tyrell Malacia for €15m. It tallies to a total expenditure of €243m that Ten Hag has had. Weghorst cost Man Utd €2.96m as they had to pay to cut his loan at Besiktas short.

January saw not much action on the transfer front and the club were reduced to mere loans. But surely Ten Hag was warned about this going into the window? It begs the question: why so much money was spent on Antony on the wing when the centre-forward position was left spare?

Ronaldo replacement

Ronaldo was let go halfway through the season after his bombshell interview with Piers Morgan. The club thought that they would be getting him to lead the line but he left unexpectedly. No way can we expect Ten Hag to foresee that, but regardless of Ronaldo’s departure, he must have known he was going into the winter window effectively cashless. It was a gamble he took upon himself, and it’s left the club with Weghorst up front.

The Champions League once seemed a certainly - but even that now seems a bit bleak, especially with Newcastle’s form and the trajectory of Brighton. Have we given too much credence to the Dutchman? Given the squad’s value and how much he spent in the summer window, the club shouldn't be having this atrocious away form. The mistake doesn’t lie with Weghost, it more lies with the purchase of Antony. It's money that should have been saved and spent on two players for the forward line.