It is the story of every manager at Manchester United that the shadow which looms the biggest at the club is named Sir Alex Ferguson and Erik ten Hag is no different.
Erik ten Hag has broken Manchester United’s trophy drought that stretched to six years before his arrival and added an FA Cup last season.
However, the league form has been dire, to put it kindly, and regardless of his proclamations about trophies, the league remains a mirage for Man Utd fans.
The Man Utd squad still backs him to turn it around as Jonny Evans recently sang Ten Hag’s praises, but the expectations at Old Trafford can’t just be winning a trophy every season.
Sir Alex Ferguson set a high benchmark and even though fans have managed expectations since his retirement, his spectre looms large.
Ten Hag has now revealed the main thing he has had to deal with at United due to the legendary Man Utd manager.
Erik ten Hag on Sir Alex Ferguson’s effect at Man Utd
It doesn’t bear repeating the accolades that Sir Alex Ferguson managed at Manchester United. The statue in front of the stadium and the stand named after him speak volumes.
Since his departure, however, the club has cycled through manager and while there have been many false dawns, United still look as far away from the title as they did under David Moyes.
Ten Hag was the man who was heralded as the one to bring change and finally drag United into a new era and the first season was hugely promising.
Unfortunately, United haven’t just gone backward, they’ve gone into a free fall with results and performances.
Ten Hag spoke to the media recently and said he’s done well to win two trophies but at no other club is the weight of expectation as high as it is at Old Trafford and every manager post-Sir Alex has had to deal with it.
He said: “One thing for sure is that there’s almost no club in the world where exceptions are as high as at Manchester United and that’s set from the era of Sir Alex. The rest of us who come after have to deal with this.
“But that’s nice, that’s why you want to be here. It’s a big challenge, but it also demands the highest standards in every process and obviously, we’re not there in every process.”
Ten Hag’s ‘process’ needs convincing
Although Ten Hag’s quotes here echo the sentiment of many fans, it is also not often that he recognises his team is falling short or he is falling short.
Ten Hag has the tendency to go into self-defence mode as soon as his playing style is criticised, while his line about two trophies in two seasons is already grating on the fans yearning for more consistency.
Therefore, while the expectations at the club are undoubtedly high, they are nowhere near as high as they were a decade after Sir Alex’s departure.
For starters, Ten Hag himself is still in the job after guiding United to their worst-ever Premier League finish last season and sitting in 14th place after seven games this year.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 12 |  West HamWest Ham | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 11 | -1 | 8 |
| 13 |  B’mouthBournemouth | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 8 |
| 14 |  Man UtdManchester United | 7 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 8 |
| 15 |  LeicesterLeicester | 7 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 12 | -3 | 6 |
| 16 |  EvertonEverton | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 15 | -8 | 5 |
It is worth repeating that pretty much every manager before him has been sacked for less and backed far less than the Dutchman has.
In that sense, his process needs to start bearing results soon, or at least show some semblance of direction to convince fans that the team is in the right hands.
That hasn’t happened so far and no amount of managing expectations by invoking Sir Alex Ferguson’s name can help right now. Only wins can.
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