I knew Erik ten Hag was doomed the moment he made the dumbest selection call I’ve ever seen

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Even if you see it coming weeks or months in advance, there are moments in a manager’s tenure where you know instantly the game is up.

For Erik ten Hag this came almost a week ago when Manchester United travelled to Turkey to face Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

There is some symmetry to the situation, with Mourinho once making his own bizarre selection decision prior to his final game as Manchester United boss in 2018, recalling an ostracised Matteo Darmian into a makeshift defensive role.

Yet that looked mundanely straightforward in comparison to Erik ten Hag’s ‘sack me’ selection against Fenerbahce.

Mazraoui at 10

Bruno Fernandes would not have realised it at the time, but his red card against Porto proved to be the setup for Erik ten Hag to sabotage himself.

United have a number of players capable of playing the number 10 role in place of Fernandes.

Noussair Mazraoui, a full-back, should not have been anywhere near the list, and it’s likely no other manager in the world would have selected him there.

It was not ingenuinity, this was pure stupidity, losing a fanbase and potentially the dressing room too.

Joshua Zirkzee and Amad were the obvious options to play the role. Zirkzee was playing higher with Hojlund left out – but why?

Amad meanwhile has been increasing sidelined for no apparent reason over the past few weeks – to snub him for Mazraoui was an insult.

Jack Fletcher was on the bench. Ten Hag’s supposed commitment to youth could have pointed him in this direction.

When the line-up was announced, most assumed the suggestions Mazraoui was starting at 10 was a mistake. Turkish television even listed the formation with three at the back and Mazraoui at wing-back.

Then Ten Hag came out and explained the defender really was playing out of position.

He insisted that he once tried it successfully for Ajax in 2020. Well this is 2024 at Manchester United, and if there is one thing we have learned, it is that Ajax success is not transferable to Manchester United; see Donny van de Beek, Antony, and Ten Hag’s league record.

If you can transport yourself to another scenario, playing Pro Evolution Soccer many years ago with friends; when one stepped out the room, you may mess around with his tactics and select a defender up front, to sabotage their team.

This was what Erik ten Hag did to his own team, at a professional level.

Ten Hag sacked

Manchester United drew the game 1-1 with Mazraoui stubbornly selected for the 90 minutes, creating no chances. It did not work. And even if it did not kill the team, the principle of the selection highlighted how out of touch and desperate Erik ten Hag had become.

This is a manager who won the FA Cup Final a few months ago, getting the fanbase back onside after a horrific league season.

He entered this season with some goodwill, but had used most of it up by the Fenerbahce game. Horrendous league defeats at home to Liverpool and Tottenham by a combined 6-0 score saw the goodwill evaporate.

United’s defeat to West Ham at the weekend may have been VAR-induced, but it followed a pattern of weak performances and terrible results.

14th in the Premier League table and one win in 11 European games, are truly shocking barometers of where United are at. The manager had to be fired.

Up until Fenerbahce I still had some hope Ten Hag would turn it around, or at least make a fight of it. Fool me once, and all that.

His Mazraoui call in Turkey was the moment all hope evaporated. This was a manager who was hopelessly lost, and needed to be put of his misery, and ours.