Erik ten Hag oversaw one of Man Utd ‘worst performances in 35 years’, claims expert as two players praised

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Manchester United missed a chance to close the gap on the top teams in the league, losing at home to Tottenham.

Heading into the 2024/25 season, Manchester United fans hoped this season would be better than the dismal 2023/24 campaign.

Opta is projecting another eighth placed finish, and even that is looking a little generous after the 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham.

Manchester United were awful against Spurs, letting down the fans in attendance, and millions watching around the world.

Manchester United verdict

Manchester United’s display against Tottenham came from a team which lacked cohesion, conceding an early goal, and getting worse from there.

Tottenham controlled most of the play, and United fans expected better from the team, with Erik ten Hag now into his third season as Manchester United manager.

How much time Ten Hag has left as manager is another matter, with topic of conversation already shifting towards potential replacements.

Highly respected journalist Henry Winter gave his verdict on Manchester United’s performance, describing it as one of the worst in recent memory.

Winter wrote on X: “I’ve seen some poor #MUFC performances here over the past 35 years and that’s one of the worst.

“Lack of spine, organisation, belief, discipline, leadership, ideas. Only Garnacho and Onana can hold their heads up high. Otherwise, United embarrassing.”

• READ MORE: Manchester United manager history, trophies won, win percentage

Onana and Garnacho best of a poor bunch

It is hard to hang onto any really strong individual performances in Manchester United’s defeat, when the team was so utterly poor.

At the same time, it is fair to say the 3-0 loss would have been a lot worse without the intervention of goalkeeper Andre Onana, who made seven saves over the course of the game.

Alejandro Garnacho did hit the post at the other end, and kept battling in attack, unable to make the breakthrough despite his efforts.

But with the team so disjointed, whichever combination of players Ten Hag selected would have struggled to perform; his tactics were all wrong, and the players appear to be losing their fight.

We have seen how this ends, when a Manchester United manager begins the season poorly, there is often an unhappy ending.