The Erik Ten Hag Era Is Nearly Over

Written by Lachlan Sherriff

I was very high on Manchester United's appointment of Erik Ten Hag. I wrote high praises of the Dutchman in this article back in 2022, right before he was appointed manager of United.

In that article, I predicted Ten Hag to win Man United a Carabao Cup by 2023, and an FA Cup by 2025. United did indeed win the Carabao Cup in 2023, and Ten Hag even proved me wrong by winning the FA Cup in 2024, a year earlier then I predicted.

But I also predicted Ten Hag to bring a Premier League to Old Trafford by 2027 and a Champions League by 2028. And while he technically still has time to do that, it's looking unlikely.

In fact, there's a chance he's not even in the job by 2025.

Truth be told, Manchester United are in a crisis right now. After seven games, Ten Hag's men have only accumulated eight points, sitting in fourteenth, closer to the relegation zone then the top four. They've also only taken two points from their first two Europa League games.

On top of this, Manchester United's injury list is growing by the day. Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo both missed this international window through injury, while Mason Mount still recovers from a head injury.

But it's the defense that should really worry United fans, with Noussair Mazraoui set to miss the next two months with a heart injury, joining Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia, Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire on the sidelines.

The situation is dire, and even Ten Hag himself knows it probably ends in the sack.

Ten Hag is left with two choices. Play the way he's been playing all season, in hopes it finally clicks, or change it up in hopes of better results, even though it could only make it worse.

With Ten Hag's limited choices in defense, he may have to abandon his typical four at the back system. Diogo Dalot is the only fit full back Ten Hag has right now, so he either trusts a kid from the youth academy, or switches to a back three.

A back three might not even be the worse case scenario for Man United right now. Johnny Evans may be old, but his performance against Aston Villa was an indicator that he still may have something left in the tank. Pair him with Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt, and the three of them may be able to hold it down for United.

But despite this, I don't expect Ten Hag to abandon his back four system. Ten Hag has shown to be a very stubborn manager, which occasionally can be useful, and other times his greatest detriment. We've seen him have fallings out with huge names at Old Trafford like Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho, both of whom never played again for United again following their relationship with Ten Hag ending.

If Ten Hag isn't willing to change his system, then he's going to have to find results out of his current team. United's next results are a mixed bag, against Brentford, West Ham, Chelsea and Leicester City in the league, as well as Fenerbahce and PAOK in the Europa League and Leicester City in the Carabao Cup.

With United's current form, it wouldn't be a surprise to see United fail to win over half of these games. And if that happens, surely INEOS are left with no choice but to sack him. And at this point, I don’t think United fans expect much at this point. Ten Hag hasn’t even been able to get the consistent best out of a full strength squad, let alone this injury riddled one.

Erik Ten Hag was meant to be Man United's saviour. But instead, it looks like he's gonna burn out as another Man United failure.