Watching the group that Manchester United have change into underneath Erik ten Hag, it brings to thoughts the optimism of his appointment. His success at Ajax was not simply measured in silverware however the method through which it was delivered via a distinct style of play.
Speaking to gamers and coaches who had labored with him in his place of birth, a image was painted. “He always had the best tactical thoughts,” Boudewijn Pahlplatz instructed Sky Sports. “It has been step by step, developing his own philosophy and his own way of playing.”
Pahlplatz had been a group-mate. Sjoerd Overgoor was a participant of Ten Hag’s at FC Twente after which Go Ahead Eagles. “Every time, we would start with the goalkeeper and he would talk us through the patterns of how we could attack,” Overgoor instructed Sky Sports.
There was no ambiguity to the method. His style was stamped throughout these sides. “After a couple of months of the season, there were matches where we knew what we had to do and everyone was seeing it the same way. It was really clear and it was working.”
This is all historical past nevertheless it feels pertinent given the nature of the criticism. Ten Hag has needed to navigate stormy waters at Old Trafford. There is an appreciation that off-area occasions have disrupted his tenure. An understanding that the buildings have failed him.
Where there is much less sympathy for his struggles is on the pitch itself. Regardless of the errors in recruitment or any of the debate round man-administration errors, it is the performances – much more than the outcomes – that proceed to undermine confidence in him.
“We need to see a style of play develop in the next few months,” Gary Neville instructed Sky Sports after January’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham. “What I see is a collection of single passes where a player receives it and has to work out where the next player is, rather than knowing where the next player is.”
Gary Neville and Roy Keane debate whether or not or not Erik ten Hag is the proper match for United
The former United captain and influential pundit added: “Where is the default style of play in this team? I do not see it and that is a real concern. He has had 18 months and I do not think at this moment in time you can see those patterns developing.”
Into March, having embarked on a surprisingly unconvincing run of 5 consecutive wins in the meantime, these doubts haven’t gone away. Against neighbours and reigning champions Manchester City on Sunday, the distinction was stark, the proof overwhelming.
Again, it was not the end result. It was the undeniable fact that they arrived with most impartial observers anticipating that they’d be performed off the park. Their efficiency in this 3-1 defeat confirmed the worst. Manchester United are nowhere close to the ranges required.
Watch highlights from Manchester City’s win over Manchester United
Afterwards, Ten Hag gave the impression of a man in denial.
City’s dominance of possession was identified to him after United had solely 27.1 per cent of the ball, the lowest that they’d registered in a Premier League for seven years. “Football is not only about possession,” he replied. His group weren’t proactive, it was then recommended. “Proactive, you can also do it defending,” he argued.
When it was put to Ten Hag one ultimate time that the recreation had demonstrated the gulf between the two sides, he mentioned: “Absolutely not. We had many injuries and still we had an opportunity.” Any suggestion that City had merely outplayed United was rejected.
Some will agree with him so it is price highlighting that the correlation between possession on the pitch and place in the desk is clear. United rank ninth in the Premier League for possession at a shade over 50 per cent. The high groups don’t play this method.
Nor can it’s mentioned to be working. United’s incapacity to stop photographs raining in on their objective is effectively documented however study the distinction between themselves and the groups above them in the desk and it turns into apparent how distant they’re.
Ten Hag’s group have now confronted greater than twice as many photographs as City this season. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 4 groups to have confronted the fewest photographs are at the moment the high 4 groups in the Premier League desk. United’s soccer is unsustainable.
It was fascinating to have the alternative to place the style query to Ten Hag at the membership’s coaching floor over Christmas. Some of his solutions recommended that he wanted extra time. Others indicated that he was actively pursuing one other concept anyway.
Ten Hag talked of “the DNA of this club” – a reference to the United custom of quick-paced attacking play that made the extra staid positional recreation of Louis van Gaal so unpalatable to some. There is a feeling that he has to work inside sure parameters to succeed.
Not least as a result of of the identity of the personnel. Marcus Rashford was inherited, Alejandro Garnacho has emerged. “It has to do with the nature of the players, definitely,” Ten Hag instructed Sky Sports. “With the speed of our attacking players we can play very direct.”
In that sense, perhaps United appointed a pragmatist relatively than a thinker. He has careworn again and again that what labored at Ajax wouldn’t work in this job. At Utrecht, he didn’t play 4-3-3 at all, preferring to utilise the two good strikers that have been out there.
“He just adapts to the players that he has,” Bart Vriends of Go Ahead Eagles instructed Sky Sports. “We had wingers and played an attacking, dominant, passing game. At Utrecht, he changed to suit the players. He did not really stick to this Dutch style.”
The concern is that United are neither fish nor fowl as a end result. They can play direct however do they actually wish to? Ten Hag talks of these excessive regains however is he actually a coach for the counter-press? There is nonetheless a obscure notion of turning United into a possession-based mostly aspect.
Perhaps it is a mere plea for time however Ten Hag argued in that interview that his method will change into clear as soon as the injured gamers return. “I want to play from the back and if everyone is on board, you will see, we will do it. When we have the team ready, we will do it.”
Erik ten Hag mentioned his aspect’s efficiency was good regardless of their 3-1 loss to Man City
The problem with this argument is that all the pieces we learn about trendy administration tells us that elite coaches put the style in place earlier than bringing in the gamers. They won’t win with out world-class gamers however they do play their method. It all flows from that.
Jurgen Klopp arrived at an out-of-sorts Liverpool in October 2015 and was requested earlier than his first recreation in opposition to Tottenham, what he anticipated to see after so little time working together with his new gamers. “We want to look different,” he replied. “That is what I expect.”
Liverpool needed to accept a draw away to Tottenham however they ran additional than in any recreation that season, making extra sprints too. They turned the first opponent to outrun Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs that yr. The ideas have been in place instantly.
Like Klopp, and in contrast to Ten Hag it is solely honest to level out, Pep Guardiola didn’t win a trophy in his first season as a Premier League supervisor. But he took a group ranked fifth for possession in the earlier season to the highest possession whole ever recorded in English soccer at that point.
Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton had 70 per cent of the ball in three of his first seven Premier League matches in cost. Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham put a number of seasons of turgid soccer behind them to play an expansive recreation proper from the outset.
The patterns and the ideas are recognisable regardless of the personnel. It is why Tottenham midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg may flip up at Old Trafford and full extra passes than Manchester United’s extremely-regarded midfield trio put collectively.
FREE TO WATCH: Highlights from Manchester United’s recreation in opposition to Tottenham
It is why Brighton, shorn of their Most worthy property in the summer time, have been capable of go to Manchester United and never solely win the match however dominate the soccer. De Zerbi, keep in mind, like Postecoglou, was appointed to his place extra not too long ago than Ten Hag.
There is a place for pragmatism in the Premier League. The concern is that this place is under the absolute best. Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has earned reward for adapting from recreation to recreation to make issues harder for the opponent. Ten Hag can not count on the similar plaudits. This was poverty soccer with an £86m winger sat on the bench.
If Ten Hag is unable to convey sustained success, one wonders how he’ll in the future replicate on what went fallacious. It is possible that he would level, justifiably, to a myriad of components past his management. And but, there is one key motive why perception is starting to ebb away.
The focus, the obligation, at Manchester United have to be to ascertain a clear identity, a style that may present that pathway to better issues. That this style is not apparent, whilst different coaches arrive elsewhere and make a swift affect, is the biggest disappointment.
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