It remains to be seen how Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Man Utd ages but for now, some of the immediate improvements Ruben Amorim has brought in spell bad news for him.
Erik ten Hag will always be credited with winning two trophies at Old Trafford, the first one breaking a trophy drought of five years.
Furthermore, he brought along talents like Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, among others, who are key parts of the current Man Utd squad.
However, the way his tenure crashed and burned, combined with the many ill-advised signings made under him have set the club back years and into a hole Ruben Amorim keeps trying to climb out of.
In the process, however, massive credit needs to go to Ten Hag for leaving Amorim with a gift that has solved his big headache.
Erik ten Hag’s gift for Ruben Amorim
Mainoo and Garnacho are the two players Amorim has inherited from Ten Hag but an argument can be made that those two, especially Mainoo, will have always broken through because of his immense talent.
Instead, Ten Hag’s biggest gift for the new Man Utd manager was the curse he broke that stretched for nearly five years prior to his own arrival.
That curse, of course, is the Carabao Cup win in the 2022/23 season which broke the trophy drought at United that had become uncomfortably long.
Before that trophy, the Europa League won by Jose Mourinho was United’s last silverware, a record that was damning and casting a cloud over the club.
By winning the Carabao Cup and following it up with an FA Cup win the next season, he completed the domestic set at United and in the process, solved Amorim’s big headache.
Instantly, the new manager had no immediate pressure to win a trophy. In fact, Ten Hag had talked about the trophies so much that Man Utd fans almost preferred if the new manager didn’t win any as long as tangible improvement in playing style was visible.
That’s something Amorim has taken full advantage of.
Amorim taking full advantage of Ten Hag’s gift
It has been apparent from Amorim’s first words as United manager and then stressed by his actions that is it clear he doesn’t care much about the domestic cups.
The team against Spurs in the Carabao Cup was heavily rotated and the same was confirmed by Amorim for the Arsenal game in the FA Cup too.
Because Ten Hag removed the monkey off of United’s back by winning the two cups, Amorim can dream about winning the Premier League, even if it comes at the cost of throwing away the domestic cups.
Fans, on the other hand, are no longer jittery and adding days to the “days since last trophy won” counter because they’ve just been given a lesson that trophies don’t mean sustained success.
That narrative has played right into Amorim’s hands and he’s taking full advantage of it with his team selections and messaging in the media.
Ten Hag couldn’t save his job by winning the two cups but he might have ensured Amorim stays in his a lot longer because of Ten Hag’s cup wins!
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