It only took three Premier League games and two losses before starting to feel like Manchester United are back in crisis mode.
The feeling is strengthened due to the latest loss being against Liverpool, that too at Old Trafford, where last season’s most thrilling memory came in the FA Cup against the same opponents.
For Erik ten Hag, the questions are deafening again after individual mistakes combined with systemic issues contributed to the defeat.
However, he cannot afford to dwell on it, and should already be on the way to fixing things that have hurt Manchester United so far.
Here’s what he needs to do to get United back on track after the Liverpool defeat-
The Casemiro problem
Fortunately for Ten Hag, a big problem is also the easiest to solve in this case as Manuel Ugarte has been signed to play as the No. 6.
Ten Hag wasn’t very glowing about Ugarte’s chances of making an immediate impact so that will frustrate fans but he should still be an improvement over Casemiro.
The Brazilian achieved seemingly new lows every week last season and after a mini resurgence in the first two league games, found a new nadir of his spell.
Subbed off at half-time after getting booed by Old Trafford faithful, this spells the end of his time as a starter.
A gaping hole, and fullbacks that never are
Now that the “Casemiro is finished” narrative is taken care of, the deeper problem needs to be talked about, and that is Ten Hag’s system.
The third goal conceded vs Liverpool laid bare the systemic deficiencies since Casemiro wasn’t even on the pitch but the goal was conceded in a similar manner.
Players losing the ball in their own half is not ideal, but the position of the rest of the team when that turnover happens is by design.
It was worth noting how high the fullbacks are positioned for a team that tries to play out from the back. Not only does it leave the holding midfielder with fewer passing options, but a turnover means a guaranteed attacking opportunity for the opposition as half of the team is in the opposite half.
That’s a tactical choice because it keeps happening, and any clinical team will punish United for it, as Liverpool did.
Managing Marcus Rashford
Stick or twist? That’s the question that’s increasingly asked of Ten Hag when it comes to his management of Marcus Rashford.
The manager has stuck by his forward through thick and thin so far, going as far as to call out criticism of Rashford as ‘stupid’.
Against Liverpool, things reached a crescendo when the fans booed Alejandro Garnacho coming off instead of Rashford for Amad.
He fashioned two chances for Joshua Zirkzee but it clearly looks like something is broken between the fans and Rashford now.
He’s a shadow of the player who scored 30 in all competitions in Ten Hag’s first season and it is up to him to get that back, and with that, earn fans’ trust again.
The striking issue
Erik ten Hag has two natural strikers. Unfortunately, Rasmus Hojlund can’t be relied upon to play week-in-and-week-out, while Joshua Zirkzee is a unique striker who would rather assist and pass than score.
In an ideal world, they would play together but that looks pretty much impossible as it stands right now.
Zirkzee opened his account at United with a bang, scoring on his debut, but that was always going to be the exception rather than the norm.
Van Dijk said as much about the forward after their win at Old Trafford, and now the challenge for Ten Hag is to strike a combination that gives United a goalscoring touch.
The success of the first season was built on a sturdy defence, and Ten Hag has not been able to get United firing under him consistently three years into the job. Time is running out and excuses are running thin.
Get fans back on his side
Managers can survive the whole of the footballing world calling for their head, but once your own fans turn against you, there’s no coming back.
Fans were behind Ten Hag last season despite worse results as the injuries were a genuine mitigating factor.
However, there are only so many times he can keep talking about the two trophies and being behind only Manchester City in trophies won when the team lurches from one disaster to another on a weekly basis.
Most fans are still behind Ten Hag as three games into the season, it would be panicky to turn on him after giving him a new contract and a new staff.
But the tide could be felt turning against Liverpool as there were audible boos for his subs. Brighton did one over him with a manager two games into his job, with a huge squad overhaul.
Slot turned him over in his third game with zero new players, and both those teams show a style of play while Ten Hag says he’s not “Harry Potter” in his third year on the job.
Words cannot turn this sentiment, only results can.
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