Man Utd: Ten Hag sack looming despite caveats compared to Liverpool and Arsenal

We have some sympathy for Erik ten Hag having to operate under that system at Manchester United but then….there are standards and he is failing those.

Manchester United’s nightmare season continued on Tuesday night as they were dumped out of both the Champions League and Europe as a whole after a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich condemned them to fourth spot in a group that appeared straightforward on paper.

In real life, nothing is ever straightforward these days at Old Trafford. But should the decision to sack Erik ten Hag be? Or again, is it more complex than some people like to think?

After a very promising first season in charge, United have nosedived at an almost improbable rate in the Dutchman’s second campaign, and almost from minute one of their opening Premier League game against Wolves.

Results and performances since suggest United would be correct to dispense of his services, with more losses than wins this season (12-11) and as many as the entirety of last season. Twelve losses in 62 has become 12 in 24. Even if maths aren’t your strong point, the numbers don’t lie.

READ: New leader as Man Utd Champions League campaigns post-Fergie ranked for wretchedness

If there was a discernible style of play being implemented, one could perhaps accept the growing pains but that does not seem to be the case, regardless of what Ten Hag says in his increasingly unconvincing press conferences. From straight talking to double Dutch this season, it’s another point of concern.

He spoke of wanting to make United the “best transition team in the world” after compromising his principles last season after the failure to land Frenkie de Jong, coupled with David de Gea’s inability to play from the back.

Unfortunately, the attempt at a style change has backfired spectacularly, with his side being incredibly easy to play through on the transition and their attacking patterns regularly ending up with wingers going down blind alleys and Rasmus Hojlund making runs for no return.

The all or nothing approach, which is personified by Scott McTominay being a second striker as opposed to a midfielder, was summed up by Thomas Tuchel after the game.

The Bayern coach said “sometimes they do a build-up with only four people to have six up higher in the pitch. It explains to me why they are dangerous and also why sometimes you can catch them on counter attacks and why they are sometimes vulnerable”.

Perhaps Tuchel was being kind to a counterpart in crisis, but you could replace ‘sometimes’ with ‘always’, couldn’t you?

Transfers could also be a stick to beat Ten Hag with, particularly in the case of Antony, who extended his non-goalscoring run to 25 games with another largely listless performance against Bayern.

But this is where the case for the defence begins, like it has for every manager in the post-Fergie wilderness years.

Why is Ten Hag the head of recruitment and scouting on top of coaching the side? Why is there no accountability above the manager? What other top club operates like this?

None in truth, but a quick glance at well-performing clubs will tell you that off-field structure and a sense of calm naturally eventually reflects in on-field performance.

Off the top of the head, just in the Premier League: Manchester City, Newcastle (both state-owned and all that, but can’t deny they have the right people in place), Aston Villa and Brighton. Their ducks are in a row.

As are Bayern’s – Tuchel knows he is the coach and coach only, like Ten Hag did at Ajax, who have descended into chaos since the departure of Edwin van der Sar and others.

Arsenal and Liverpool fans, like United’s, have regularly grumbled about their American owners over the years, but at least they have recognised the need for a proper system in place above their managers.

The Gunners ownership change in tact has seen Edu take over much of football operations, in conjunction with Mikel Arteta, to great effect over the last 18 months, while Liverpool’s return to glory under Jurgen Klopp would not have come without Michael Edwards, Julian Ward and co.

Klopp wanted Julian Brandt in the summer of 2017 but was told Mohamed Salah was the better option by his “transfer gurus” and look how that turned out.

United, on the other hand, had no alternative for Ten Hag’s ‘better the devil you know’ approach and then ended up paying near double the original asking price for Antony once things had gone pear-shaped early on last season.

Chelsea and Everton are comparable amongst the English big boys – no plan other than throwing money at problems and seeing what might stick, which eventually led to that 10-point deduction for the Toffees.

Another one of Europe’s traditional super-heavyweights, Barcelona, might have won La Liga last season but are a shadow of the side that once dominated the continent, and, again, it is in line with how shambolically they have been run over the last five-plus years. Another lever to pull, anyone?

United, in their current guise, can only go so far up before they come crashing back down to ground zero. It has happened too many times under too many different types of managers to claim it is anything but a cycle of continued mass failure. Nothing will change until there is actual change.

The club currently finds itself in limbo with the interminable wait for Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS to seal their 25% ownership and ‘sporting control’ seemingly having a permanent announcement date of ‘next week.

It is highly unlikely any managerial decision will be made before that is confirmed and feet are under the table, outside of a result on par with last season’s 7-0 shellacking at Anfield this Sunday.

So, you’re telling me there’s a chance? The fixture has become a graveyard for United managers of late – see Mourinho and Solskjaer.

Ten Hag seemed in a good position in August to survive and even thrive under a new structure (particularly as Ratcliffe allegedly is/was a fan), but his credit is running dry, if not empty by now, barring a serious turnaround in fortunes over the festive period.

Even in their diminished state as a club, and all the off-field issues, there still has to be some level of standards and right now the bare minimum seems too much for the Dutchman, for anything but a new manager to be in place at some point in the new year.

Can Ten Hag be the first United manager since Fergie to rescue himself from the apparent point of no return? Don’t hold out any hope.

MAILBOX: Ten Hag sack? Manchester United need to ‘take the f***ing hit’