Erik ten Hag has nowhere to hide at Manchester United these days.
No longer can the Dutchman put poor results down to off-the-field distractions or a treatment room busier than Piccadilly station at rush hour.
Manchester United may not have had Mason Mount, Rasmus Hojlund or Leny Yoro at their disposal against Liverpool last weekend, but Erik ten hag still boasted an almost full-strength side during a 3-0 home defeat to their arch rivals.
While the Ineos era is still young, doubts are reportedly growing already about Ten Hag’s flawed game model.
The Guardian reports that there are ‘serious concerns’ amongst the new United bosses. The sight of Liverpool – only a few weeks into the Arne Slot reign – carving through the Red Devils at Old Trafford at the start of Ten Hag’s third season in the dugout was alarming, to say the least.
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Erik ten Hag under pressure again at Manchester United
“(Slot) obviously saw a weakness in United that he exploited,” Gary Neville tells The Overlap.
“That is exactly what he did,” agrees Roy Keane, the legendary former United captain. “Quality players punished mistakes.
“Football is full of mistakes. But what happens if you make mistakes is that you hope your team-mate helps you out. But if you make a mistake and the ball ends up with someone like (Mo) Salah, they punish you.
“It was brutal.”
While Ten Hag was keen to pin the blame at individual errors rather than the structure or the set-up, per The Times – Casemiro twice giving the ball away in the build up to Liverpool goals while Kobbie Mainoo was caught in possession for the third – surely one misplaced pass should not immediately lead to a clear shot on goal for the opposition.
But with full-backs Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui almost playing as wingers rather than full-backs in United’s build-up, a typical Casemiro shank had Liverpool bearing down on goal while overloading Ten Hag’s team in their own half.
You can get away with such a risky approach in the Eredivisie. But not against Liverpool.
The Dutchman famously planned to make Man United the ‘best transition team in the world‘. It is ironic in the extreme, then, that Ten Hag’s side appear to be at their most vulnerable in quick turnovers.
Gary Neville and Roy Keane share concerns
“There’s that element of certain positions where you can’t lose (the ball). Liverpool, like all good teams, are ready to pounce,” sighs Keane. “We have seen United get punished numerous times, especially at home with the big pitch.
“When you make a mistake, you hope someone gets you out of jail. You hope your defenders help you out or your goalkeeper. For United, because they are not really a settled team, because there is new players, there’s still an element that they are easy (to get through).
“I still think if the ball going on one side (of the pitch) and you’re the full-back, you still have to you have to mange the game. Manage the moment, manage the situation.”
Neville, an eight-time Premier League winner under Sir Alex Ferguson, knows a thing or two about life as an elite-level full-back.
And he feels that Man United are shooting themselves in the foot positioning Dalot and Mazraoui so high up the pitch against a team with wingers who, in Salah and Luis Diaz, relish the chance to drive into the wide open spaces left in behind.
“Dalot is too high. Dalot is, I think, 10 yards too wide and too high,” Neville says in response to Liverpool’s third goal of the afternoon. “He has to be a little bit more careful.
“I do reflect upon that and think Dalot probably could have been a little bit more conservative.”
“Part of you must be going; ‘I’ve done something drastically wrong here. I am 10, 15 yards (out of position) and someone is running at my goal!’,” concurs Keane.
“At some point, you must think; ‘I am a defender, my priority is to defend the goal’.”
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