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Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag

What’s wrong with Manchester United?

By Andy PymontPosted on Posted in League Cup, Manchester United

What’s wrong with Manchester United? That’s the question that many are asking after a historically slow start to the season. The club’s defence of its League Cup title ended at the second hurdle at home to Newcastle. That follows an indifferent start to the season in the Premier League in particular.

What exactly are the problems and how do Man Utd go forward from here?

The Situation

This Man Utd team has raised these questions by losing back-to-back home games 3-0. First Manchester City won at Old Trafford by that scoreline in the Premier League. A few days later, Newcastle repeated the feat in the League Cup.

Those results do need putting into some context. It’s easy to panic after one or two bad results. That could be a mistake as these games were against two seriously good teams:

  • Man City won a historic Treble last season. Their team is amongst the best the English game has ever seen. City are favourites to win the Premier League again this season. Doing so will make them the first team in the entire history of English football to win four titles in a row.
  • Newcastle have had a difficult start to the season with one of the hardest fixture schedules of any team. They are in the “Group of Death” in the Champions League. However, they have been putting in good performances. Their current 6th place in any early Premier League is actually lower than their underlying numbers would suggest. They seem a stronger team than they were last season, when they finished 4th.

On their own, then, these results are disappointing but shouldn’t be causing a great panic. However, unfortunately that hasn’t been the whole story for Man Utd:

This explains the feeling there’s something wrong with Manchester United this season. This wider context, and especially the club’s home form, is rightly concerning supporters. This has combined with some concerning performances even in some of the games that the team has won.

The Head Coach: Erik ten Hag

Newcastle fans were quick to revel in their opponents’ misfortune. They sang “you’ll be sacked in the morning” loudly for decent periods of the game. However, it seems Man Utd will not be acting so hastily – and I think that’s the right decision.

ten Hag enjoyed a fine first season in England. He rightly enjoyed plaudits, especially when Man Utd beat Newcastle in last season’s League Cup Final. As I commented at the time, this wasn’t the end of the club’s problems: but was a sign that the club should support ten Hag.

That victory over Newcastle saw Man Utd control the midfield through an imperious performance by Casemiro. They were happy to let the ball do the running, control spaces, and let a busy Newcastle side turn possession back to them. Having established a lead from a set piece, they could counter-attack with the brilliant pace of Marcus Rashford to get a second and seal the win.

However, Man Utd seem to be changing style this season. They are much more active without the ball. ten Hag himself has highlighted that they want to win the ball back in higher areas. This is the fashionable style of play at the moment in English football. However, it is a change and Man Utd don’t entirely seem to have worked it all out yet. It also doesn’t entirely suit all of their current playing staff. It might be that more time is needed to make this change in style.

I think Erik ten Hag can oversee a transformation in Man Utd’s style. He is a good manager and is capable of getting results. I don’t think he is what’s wrong with Manchester United and in my opinion the club should stick by him.

The Owners: The Glazer Family

There has been a long-running story about a potential ownership change at Man Utd. Qatari Sheikh Jassim pulled out of the running. British businessman and Man Utd fan Jim Ratcliffe retains an interest in the club. However, latest stories suggest that he’s most likely to become a new minority investor, rather than buying the club outright.

The fans are deeply unhappy with the current owners. As I highlighted when talking about ten Hag back in February, Man Utd have won plenty under their ownership and could potentially win more. However, it feels like fans have reached a point of no return. It’s possible that too many bridges have been burned. The best path forward for the club is probably for there to be new owners – but as yet, nobody has met the Glazers’ asking price.

A Warning Unheeded

I think the biggest problem at Man Utd is not really the owners themselves. I also don’t think it’s the manager. Instead, it seems to be somewhere between those two groups. The club’s sporting structure doesn’t seem right and there isn’t a coherent long-term vision for the playing side of the club. This, of course, is ultimately the responsibility of the Glazers. However, it is also something that they have got right before: both at Manchester United and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Man Utd were warned that drastic changes were needed in the club’s front office and sporting director areas. They hired Ralf Ragnick as a consultant for the latter part of the 2021/22 season. The German had this to say:

As Scott highlights there, Ragnick called for quite radical change and warned that there weren’t easy solutions. Man Utd chose to sideline him and ignore this. I think the idea that the problem is easily solved with one or two signings and a new manager is a compelling one. Both the Glazers and indeed Man Utd fans would prefer this to be true than for the club to commit to a big rebuild. However, it does mean that the club hasn’t seriously committed to making big changes to become a force again in the game. Until recently they were one of the only top clubs that didn’t have a Director of Football. There are still questions on whether they have the right structure in this area. John Murtough now has that title, but fans and pundits speculate that not much has meaningfully changed in their approach to football operations.

Manchester United are still more successful than most English clubs. It wouldn’t even surprise me if they won the FA Cup this year. However, it’s safe to say that the club is not operating at its full potential, and won’t until it starts to make serious changes to the way that it assembles its squads and approaches the whole process of putting a strong team on the field. In this regard Man Utd can even learn from clubs like Brighton, which have been very successful in their football operations for a number of years. That’s a humbling thing for Man Utd fans to realise. It’s no surprise that it feels like something is continuing to go wrong with this famous club.

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