Manchester United’s under-fire manager Erik ten Hag says he’s still on same page with owners

MANCHESTER – A calamitous performance by Manchester United in their 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sept 29 has put Erik ten Hag back in the hot seat, but the beleaguered manager said he was confident that he remained on the same page as the struggling club’s owners.

The game at Old Trafford was not three minutes old when ten Hag’s men allowed centre-back Micky van de Ven to run half the length of the pitch with ease and find the unmarked forward Brennan Johnson, who tapped in for the opening goal. A rout at the Theatre of Dreams was on the cards.

However, ten Hag, whose job security was the subject of speculation for much of the 2023-24 season, insisted he was not concerned about his status with the club.

“No, I am not thinking about this. We all made in togetherness this decision to stay together, as ownership, as a leadership group, in the summer. We also knew it would take some time,” he said.

“I think we will get better. And we all are there on one page, in one boat together, the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and the players group as well. So no, I don’t have that concern.”

The loss left United, who finished a worst-ever eighth in the English Premier League last season, in 12th place after six games.

It was their second consecutive 3-0 home league defeat after they lost to Liverpool on Sept 1, and thousands of fans made a hasty exit from Old Trafford well before the final whistle.

Former United defender turned pundit Gary Neville called it a “disgusting performance”.

He added: “The first half was as bad as it gets... It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under ten Hag. And that is saying something. It is really bad. Today has shocked me how low they’ve gone. It was a really bad one.

“I know that David Moyes had some bad ones in the early days, so has Ole (Gunnar Solskjaer) along the way, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ralf Rangnick, but that felt like one of those days today where they sank really low.”

Former Tottenham midfielder Jamie Redknapp said on the Sky Sports broadcast: “United have been so abject, no confidence, no identity, they have been playing like the away team.

“It gets to a point where you feel for the manager. He looks completely out of his depth and is struggling to motivate.”

Forwards Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke also scored for Spurs, who from the start ran circles around a United side reduced to 10 men when captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off in the 42nd minute for his high challenge on midfielder James Maddison. It was the Portuguese midfielder’s first red card in a United shirt.

“We struggled a bit. We tried to force it a little bit, to rush it and go too quick,” said Fernandes.

“When they have the high line, we made mistakes on the ball and then we got punished and it didn’t go the way we wanted from there. Then the red card makes it worse.”

However, Johnson said: “11 v 11, or 11 v 10, we completely dominated the game. We had a clear game plan and we did exactly what we wanted to do.”

Ten Hag was particularly frustrated that Johnson’s early goal was almost identical to one United conceded against Twente in a 1-1 Europa League draw only four days earlier.

“We are very disappointed when you can see it again, a goal like this. It shouldn’t happen, especially when you address it so loud and clear how we have to deal with such situations,” the Dutchman said. 

The score could have been more lopsided if Spurs, who had 10 shots on target to United’s two, had taken more chances. Goalkeeper Andre Onana made a spectacular double save in the second half to keep out a shot by Timo Werner and Solanke’s attempt from the rebound.

With the win, Ange Postecoglou’s Spurs climbed to eighth in the table on 10 points after six games.

“I thought it was an outstanding performance. We started the game well, scored a great goal and probably should have had two or three,” said Postecoglou.

“The pressure then overwhelms them and they get the red card. After that I thought we controlled the game well. Just an outstanding effort from all the lads.” REUTERS, AFP