Manchester United’s hierarchy will convene in two meetings at the start of this week. One in Manchester today, the other in London tomorrow.
At the parting of ways - when Joel Glazer returns to the States, Sir Jim Ratcliffe jets off to Monaco and United’s sporting executives get back to work at Carrington - a decision on Ten Hag’s future should be set.
Express Sport attempts to enter the minds of United’s decision-makers by considering both sides of the argument.
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Results
It goes without saying. Yesterday’s draw at Aston Villa confirmed United’s lowest-ever points tally after seven Premier League matches (eight). Ten Hag set the previous record last season.
Just two wins and five goals in those seven outings isn’t even in the same realm as ‘good enough’.
Taking the Carabao Cup and Europa League into account makes it three victories in 11 games. United are 14th and closer to the relegation zone than the top four.
Regardless of the timing, have the club’s standards sunk so low whereby that goes unnoticed?
Ten Hag is in his third season, not his first, and his side are going backwards. Keeping faith in him now would only delay the inevitable.
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Recruitment
Just look at United’s squad at Villa. Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Manuel Ugarte, Casemiro, Antony and Joshua Zirkzee were among those condemned to the bench.
The nine substitutes were worth over £300million, and the vast majority were recruited by Ten Hag. What does that tell you about his hit ratio when it comes to the transfer market?
Ratcliffe was bold enough to hand a manager he was clearly unconvinced by another £200m to play with in the summer. United are set to pay another kind of price as a result.
INEOS will insist the players signed under their project suit the club’s game model rather than a single manager. So they should have no issue cutting ties with Ten Hag and letting a new coach try to get a tune out of them.
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Subtle improvements
Ten Hag isn’t all talk when he stresses that United are showing signs of improvement, though.
Particularly in the earlier stages of the campaign, his attack was creating plenty of chances but just not taking them.
United have also stopped conceding an unsustainable number of shots no matter who the opposition is.
Andre Onana is leading the Premier League Golden Glove race, keeping four clean sheets in seven appearances.
Breaking the trend
No United manager has survived a third season since Sir Alex Ferguson called time on his legendary 26-year reign.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer got close, but the club eventually swung the axe in October 2021. Maybe breaking the trend is the key to escaping the post-Ferguson black hole of mediocrity.
INEOS are reportedly very keen to avoid sacking Ten Hag. That’s no surprise given how publicly they have backed him as recently as last month.
Such a stance makes it easier to see them give Ten Hag a little more time. If he can get through his current rut, he may be able to survive anything at Old Trafford.
