I want Erik ten Hag to succeed, the results are simply not good enough

Ten Hag needed a good start to the season to helps supporters forget the reality of last season’s crushing eighth placed finish which some feared would cost him his job ahead of the FA Cup Final.

Now one month into the season there are some tangible reasons to be impressed with performances on the pitch, United are conceding far less shots than last season and there are some impressive individual displays too.

The results on the other hand are another matter. So far it has simply not been good enough.

Manchester United’s poor record puts pressure on Ten Hag

I felt after the FA Cup Final the timing would have been wrong to get rid of Erik ten Hag. Not because of the emotion of the win, but that he deserved the chance to work under a proper, cohesive football structure being put together by Ineos.

I did not feel the appetite to change yet another manager, without seeing if there could be some improvement, and throw out 2023/24 as a freak year due to injuries, for a manager who finished in third in 2022/23.

One month into this campaign, it is looking like Ten Hag finishing third in 2022/23 is more of the aberration than last year’s finish.

The current Premier League table has Manchester United in 11th place, with a goal difference of zero, and only two wins from five matches.

The Europa League draw with FC Twente was another depressingly poor result, and Ten Hag is experiencing real struggles in European competition.

Dating back to the 2-2 home draw with Sevilla, Manchester United have won just one of the last nine European games. It is simply not good enough, and it is hard to feel confident this won’t become one in 10 when United face Porto away next week.

Gary Neville is on record saying he expects Ten Hag will get until at least December before making a decision on his future. But the month of October makes for an uncomfortable fixture list.

Win vs Tottenham not enough alone

The final match of this month is at home to Tottenham. Erik ten Hag and Manchester United need a win. But we should remember how Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s 3-0 away win over Tottenham in October 2021 only served to buy him time – he was fired a month later after results failed to improve.

October is not set up kindly for Ten Hag. United travel to Porto and then face Aston Villa in the Premier League away from home days later.

Then after the international break, United host Brentford, with potential replacement Thomas Frank possibly coming to Old Trafford with a point to prove.

The come back to back away games against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce, and a tight turnaround to face West Ham away on the Sunday. That is going to be an extremely difficult week.

You can no longer look at matches and think United are going to go on a run of wins. If that was going to happen, it would have done so this past month.

We are probably looking at a similar output to this past month. A couple of draws, a win, a couple of losses.

And that will leave United outside the top 10 in the Premier League, and struggling in the Europa League group.

A win against Tottenham is an ‘if’, and should United win, it won’t be enough if followed by a loss against Porto or Villa. United need sustained wins, consistency. That is what Ten Hag has been tasked with by Dan Ashworth.

I want Erik ten Hag to succeed as Manchester United manager, but based on what we have seen this season alone, I’m not sure he can.

Now into his third season in charge, it should be better than this. Just three wins in all competitions all season, another slow start, it feels like we treading a familiar path.

Supporters are growing restless with United’s lack of ruthlessness, and some poor tactical substitution choices. It could get worse. I don’t know if it will get better.

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