Ten Hag sack omens: Five Solskjaer parallels that point to end of Man Utd tenure
As football outlets the world over scramble together as many pieces with ‘Ten Hag sack’ in the headline as possible, we here at Football365 are sticking rigidly to those Google-prescribed rules of click-worthy content.
He’s now leading the Premier League sack race after dismal defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle, and we’ve taken a look at the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was sacked on 22 November 2021 (you’re already seeing the similarities, aren’t you?) to look at parallels between the two Manchester United managers.
We’ve come up with five sack omens for Ten Hag, who looks destined to be out on his ear before the end of the month.
Points Per Game
After 13 points from a possible 15 to start the 2021/22 season, things took a dramatic turn for Solskjaer’s side after a 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, with victory over Tottenham the only positive result in their next seven, which included five defeats and spelled the end of his United tenure.
United’s results this season have been more patchy, with wins interspersed pretty evenly with defeats. But the Points Per Game (PPG) parallels between Solskjaer’s last season and the current campaign under Ten Hag suggest the Dutchman could be close to the axe.
Ten Hag has 1.5 PPG from the first ten Premier League games of the season. At the same stage Solskjaer was on 1.7 PPG, which dropped to 1.4 at the point he was sacked.
United got knocked out of the League Cup under Solskjaer, losing 1-0 to West Ham, but topped their Champions League group with seven points from their opening four games. They currently sit third under Ten Hag, with three points from three games.
Big home defeats to rivals
“Ole’s at the wheel,” sung the gleeful Liverpool fans as they watched their side tear Solskjaer’s men apart in a 5-0 win at Old Trafford in October 2021, turning United’s own chant against them. “Ten Hag’s a f*cking clown,” is a less subtle dig at the current man at the helm, but the Manchester City fans at least came up with a catchy tune and incorporated the crumbling stadium and laughable owners in their antagonising ditty.
The 3-0 defeat to City was followed by another 3-0 dismantling on Wednesday, at the hands of a second- or even third-string Newcastle side in the League Cup. It was a 4-1 defeat to Watford that was the final nail in Solskjaer’s coffin, but it was the ease with which they were brushed aside by their biggest rivals that saw many of the fans turn on the club legend.
There are now similar concerns over Ten Hag, who may now be wondering which of Fulham, Luton or Everton – his next three Premier League opponents – will prove to be his Watford.
“Fight”
“I’ve had to deal with setbacks. One thing I can say is that I’ll always give it a good shot and fight back.” Solskjaer said, three weeks before he was shown the door, in a very similar show of unconvincing defiance as Ten Hag displayed on Wednesday. “I am a fighter and I know it is not always going up. We have a lot of setbacks this season so far,” the current United boss said.
It’s a classic statement for under-fire managers that shouldn’t really need to be said. What are they going to do…give up? It feels helpless – like they’re a boxer on the ropes, one clean shot away from being knocked out. A “fighting” manager tends to be a dead man walking.
Players questioning tactics
We all questioned Solskjaer’s tactics – and whether he actually had any – a long time before he was sacked. So too were the players apparently, and when Solskjaer asked them what they thought the problem was after the 5-0 defeat to Liverpool, the players let rip.
The players were ‘confused’ by his instructions when it came to pressing and the lack of focus on that particular aspect of the game in training, leaving them bemused at the ‘exact coordination’ in action. Apart from their tactical concerns, it was claimed by The Athletic that ‘more than one’ of Solskjaer’s players called the manager out as a problem, claiming he ‘isn’t at the level of other top six managers’. Ouch.
We doubt any current United player would dare to question Ten Hag’s managerial quality for fear of a Jadon Sancho-like ousting, but a report this week claimed they did question his tactics for the first time after the 3-0 defeat to City, ‘making their feelings known in a dressing-room inquest’.
They were baffled, as we all were, by Ten Hag starting Victor Lindelof at left-back while Sergio Reguilon watched from the bench, and at Bruno Fernandes playing wide, rather than as a No.10, when Antony is a natural winger.
READ MORE: Man Utd stars ‘lose faith’ in Ten Hag over Casemiro snub and three other dressing room decisions
Roy Keane’s captaincy concerns
Roy Keane wasn’t at all impressed with Harry Maguire at the end of Solskjaer’s stint, claiming he “was like a robot” in interviews and that his performances were “a disgrace to Man Utd”. The United legend is similarly unimpressed with Bruno Fernandes, who replaced Maguire as captain this season.
“He is a talented player no doubt about it. But what I saw today – we’ve discussed many times before, it was last season at Liverpool – his whinging, his moaning and throwing his arms up in the air constantly. Fernandes is a brilliant footballer but in terms of captain material he is the opposite to what I would want in a captain.”
Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence was a problem for Solskjaer, who stuck with Maguire as captain despite the striker’s return to Old Trafford. Ten Hag’s issue is the stunning lack of options to replace Fernandes, as well as a clear dearth of leadership in general.