Two games in four days could well decide the trajectory of Manchester United under Erik ten Hag for the foreseeable future- Porto away and Aston Villa away.
It was the same scenario last season when it looked like everything hinged on the FA Cup and that Erik ten Hag in the job.
However, nobody thought that would be the case again so soon this season but that’s where the manager finds himself.
Ahead of United’s training in preparation for the first of those tests, Ten Hag was hard at work trying to find the solutions to the problems in the team.
One Man United player caught his attention in particular as he was seen having words with him before training began, suggesting he’s doing all he can to turn it around.
Erik ten Hag’s talk with Lisandro Martinez
Despite the falling results, Ten Hag has clearly not lost the dressing room yet. A part of that is down to the fact that most of the players in the Man Utd squad were brought under him.
One of his biggest success stories is the signing of Lisandro Martinez, who has established himself as one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs in no time.
The team looks much better with him in it and his absence was keenly felt last season when he missed time due to injuries.
Even this season, when results have tanked, he has been one of the players to emerge from the rubble with at least some credit to his name.
He is arguably Ten Hag’s most trusted lieutenant at the club so it was interesting to see the manager deep in conversation with the Argentine ahead of the training.
Nathan Salt of MailSport captured the conversation during the session open to the media and suggested that Ten Hag was working on tweaking Martinez’s positioning.
Martinez is a lock to start vs Porto so it would be interesting to see if there’s any difference in the team setup of the player’s role in that game.
Lisandro Martinez’s role so far
Ten Has set up United in a conventional 4-2-3-1 so far this season but the player roles have been markedly different from last season.
When Mason Mount was present, United almost pressed as a front six with four players pressing man-to-man and the two behind cutting off passing lanes.
Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt were more comfortable in that setup as the teams rarely played through the press and when they did, Martinez could play the stopper role and engage with the attacker by pushing forward, with De Ligt covering behind him.
However, as United’s press became incoherent again, most visible against Tottenham, the problems reared their head again.
The empty midfield was in full force in both games- FC Twente and Tottenham for the goal scored. It drags De Ligt wider to engage with attackers with the rest of his teammates in awkward positions or running back.
That, in turn, leaves Martinez in a thankless position where he has to maintain a 100% success rate in one-on-ones and duels.
It is why the defence has looked shaky and effectively demanded complete perfection because the system is not allowing them to play to their strengths, instead, asking them to improvise and face their weakness in every attack.
Ten Hag needs to change something to get it working again and if Porto is the start of that change, maybe there’s life left in his tenure.
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