Manchester United are bouncing from one defeat to the next — and they can’t even get a pair of socks to fit correctly.
Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup humiliation against a Newcastle team that had made eight changes to their starting XI was a new low for Erik ten Hag and his players. If supporters did not think it could get worse after the derby defeat to Manchester City, they were wrong.
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The team is in disarray, the manager is under increasing scrutiny and Old Trafford is beginning to vote with its feet. Huge pockets of empty seats could be seen with 20 minutes to go against Newcastle.
Upcoming matches against Fulham, Copenhagen, and Luton Town should, in theory, offer some respite, but they now look increasingly difficult to navigate at a time when United are failing to offer any glimmer of hope.
Much has been written and said about United’s ownership uncertainty, which has played its part in creating a sense of turmoil around the season, but precisely what is going so wrong on the pitch?
GO DEEPER
Erik ten Hag's future at Manchester United: What we're hearing
Defence
United have conceded 26 goals in all competitions this season, 16 times in the Premier League alone. That is the eighth-worst defensive record in the top flight, leakier than Nottingham Forest, Everton, Crystal Palace and Brentford.
Their xG conceded is also the eighth-worst in the league after Manchester City clocked up 4.0 xG in Sunday’s derby at Old Trafford — the second-highest recorded by a Premier League team in a single game this season.
So, it’s all the defence’s fault then, right?
Not quite. If there are mitigating factors in one department, it’s here. Ten Hag would be the first to argue that defending is not solely the responsibility of his defenders and it is true that problems out of possession further up the pitch have often left his back four exposed.
The sight of an opponent ghosting through United’s midfield and arriving unmarked in the box to score has been a common one all season, as has that of the opposition playing through the first line of their press, leaving their full-backs in two-on-one battles.
No part of United’s squad has been hit harder by injuries. Raphael Varane has missed five games and Aaron Wan-Bissaka nine, while the tallies for Lisandro Martinez (nine), Luke Shaw (13) and Tyrell Malacia (15) are still climbing.
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That is the back four, plus an adequate backup, that ended last season as the joint third-best defence in the league, all regularly unavailable over the past few months. Ten Hag is eagerly awaiting for those still absent to return to fitness.
There is an argument the United manager is not helping himself, though. Varane was fit for Sunday’s derby and is their most gifted natural defender, but the France international was left out.
Ten Hag insisted the decision was tactical, suggesting he preferred Harry Maguire on the right side of defence for his greater comfort in possession when facing City’s press. With Maguire joined by the two-footed Jonny Evans on the left, United had more natural passing angles to play out from the back.
But should that be the priority when selecting a defence to keep out the Premier League’s top scorers for the past six seasons? Some would argue it is, but shouldn’t you then commit to that approach of building up from the back rather than have your goalkeeper, Andre Onana, hit 20 of his 34 attempted passes long, regularly surrendering control?
This is where the absence of Martinez and Shaw — the two United defenders most adept at progressing the ball up the pitch, whether through passing or carrying — is most keenly felt. Until both return, there will be a ceiling on United’s ability to play out from the back and that has a knock-on effect through the rest of the line-up.
Mark Critchley
Midfield
United’s midfield is little sizzle and even less steak.
Ten Hag went into the season hoping to field a midfield three of Casemiro, Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes, but the combination never quite hung together. Mount — who preferred working in the final third at Chelsea — tried to join Fernandes high up the field in the opening two fixtures, leaving Casemiro overrun.
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The Brazilian is going through a strange funk at United. Some observers have claimed the 31-year-old’s “legs have gone”, others are dumbfounded by his change in playing style, taking up more attacking areas and showing little of the tackling, pressing, or counter-pressing nous that made him one of the best defensive midfielders in the world while at Real Madrid.
How Casemiro's defensive game has slipped
| Per game | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
|---|---|---|
Tackles | 3.6 | 2.7 |
Interceptions | 1.5 | 1 |
Possession won | 8.8 | 7.2 |
Blocks | 0.7 | 0.5 |
Clearances | 2.1 | 1.9 |
Fernandes is another issue. Even at his best, he is an unorthodox player, unable to beat a man while dribbling and with an unconventional approach that prioritises getting the ball forward over retaining possession. Add in Fernandes’ discomfort when receiving the ball when being pressured (he will often attempt to flick the ball left or right, or backheel it, when he feels an opposition player on his back as a cheat to get around it) and you have a player who can only really operate as a No 10 and who has to be supplied the ball in high volume to make his high-risk/high-reward passing worthwhile.
Following the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur and injury to Mount, Ten Hag said the team’s problems were not in the midfield balance but in the front (i.e. the unevenness of their front press) and the back (the injury problems that mean there is no stability). The United manager has since pleaded a version of the “short blanket” problem that Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho once talked of at their respective clubs, claiming he simply does not have the resources to entirely cover up his side.
Mason Mount has struggled for game time (Michael Regan/Getty Images)If he plays midfielders such as Sofyan Amrabat and Scott McTominay, he adds a degree of physicality that is supposed to protect his back four, but that impacts chance creation. If he plays more offensively minded players such as Christian Eriksen, he loses a degree of physicality and things become porous.
It is a difficult situation made worse by the choices Ten Hag is making. United fans are confused as to why he bought Mount in the summer only not to use him in recent games. United lack midfielders who can turn and pass under pressure, so it was odd Ten Hag pushed so hard to buy Mount rather than a midfielder who could comfortably contribute from deeper positions.
Questions have to be asked about whether there are any checks and balances in United’s recruitment department, who can suggest alternatives to the manager if they think his preferred players may be unwise purchases.
The confusion over what style of football Ten Hag wants from his midfield is costing United dearly. So much so that recent games have seen the side almost forgo having a midfield and play longer passes from the back four to the front three ahead.
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Ten Hag deserves credit for arriving at United and clearing up much of the mess and dysfunction accumulated in recent years, but he does not recognise that he is further adding to the malaise with his own muddled midfield options.
Carl Anka
Attack
Scott McTominay is Manchester United’s leading scorer in the Premier League this season and two of his three goals came in the final four minutes of the club’s win over Brentford. Bruno Fernandes is next on the list with two and several players have scored once.
Marcus Rashford is one of them, but he hasn’t found the back of the net since the 3-1 defeat away to Arsenal at the beginning of September. Rasmus Hojlund, their €85million (£73.8m; $89.7m) summer signing from Atalanta who arrived with a back injury, is yet to get off the mark in the league despite scoring three in the Champions League.
United have only scored 11 top-flight goals this season — which is as many as Erling Haaland has registered for Manchester City — and are yet to show sustained signs of transforming their woeful form in attack.
According to FBref.com, their Premier League xG — a tool that measures the likelihood of a shot becoming a goal — is 14.7. While this figure would be more alarming if it was significantly higher than the 11 goals United have scored, it still underlines their struggles and inability to convert the chances they are creating.
Of Rashford’s 34 Premier League shots this season, only seven have been on target. His superb form from last season has fizzled out.
But he is not alone: just three of Hojlund’s 11 shots have hit the target. The Dane has offered glimpses of what he is capable of but, aged 20, he is still developing and has been thrust into a difficult situation.
In contrast, six of McTominay’s seven shots have hit the target, with Fernandes having more shots on target (11) than any other United player.
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Ten Hag has not been aided by how woeful Antony has been. The Brazilian, who cost €100million in August 2022, is yet to register an assist in the league and, according to FBref.com, he only has one successful take-on that has led to a shot. Anthony Martial has mustered three shots in eight appearances, which matches the number of offsides he has racked up.
To compound the forward line’s misery, Jadon Sancho, once a dynamic and devastating winger for Borussia Dortmund, is training on his own after falling out with Ten Hag. The 23-year-old was left out of the squad for the Arsenal match after Ten Hag questioned his training standards.
Sancho then responded on social media and told people not to believe everything they read. Until he apologises, Ten Hag’s view is that the player will continue to train alone.
Alejandro Garnacho excites supporters, but after starting the opening two games of the season, he has been limited to appearances off the bench, suggesting Ten Hag does not yet trust him fully.
Dan Sheldon
Erik ten Hag
In taking responsibility for the Newcastle defeat, Ten Hag said he is a “fighter” and believes he can turn the tide.
The Dutchman has to think that, but more scrutiny is now being placed on the manager who, after guiding United into the Champions League and to a Carabao Cup triumph last season, is struggling to show any signs of progression.
He will rightly point to an ill-timed injury crisis, uncertainty over the club’s ownership and other off-field controversies concerning members of his squad as unwanted distractions, but whether it is team selection, in-game management or creating an identity, Ten Hag’s choices are leading to more questions than answers.
Should Jonny Evans really be starting a derby match ahead of Raphael Varane? What has Antony done to warrant his continued inclusion in the starting XI? Why is there no consequence for playing poorly?
The list could go on.
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Against Manchester City, Newcastle and in other games this season, he has often stood in the technical area, hands in pockets, motionless, watching on as his United team limped towards another defeat. There is no suggestion that Ten Hag’s position is under imminent threat, but he knows football is a results business and a run of eight defeats in 15 matches is not up to scratch.
Dan Sheldon
(Top photos: All Getty Images)
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