One defeat in the last 10 across all competitions doesn’t tell half the story of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United career so far.
In a short time he has had to deal with a start-of-the-season meltdown against Brighton and Brentford, fan fury (and reportedly some from himself) over the lack of transfer action and the running of the club in general, the death of a Monarch that indirectly led to a damaging European defeat, and 2 storm outs from one of his most senior players in Cristiano Ronaldo. All this without even mentioning the war crime of Antony’s spin against Sheriff. It does beg the question why they even bother to get up in the morning.
Not all of the adversity faced so far can be tackled by the United manager. The death of the Queen made the night against Sociedad one of the strangest games of football played, and the farcical penalty decision didn’t help matters any. Fan protests began before he arrived, and it’s a nonsense to expect ten Hag to be able to affect the status of his employers, but it’s how the Dutchman is handling the myriad of other issues with his playing staff that really give reason for excitement. His closed shop mentality reminiscent of Sir Alex Ferguson, his no-nonsense approach too. We’ve experienced false dawns before but this feels different.
Erik ten Hag swatted away questions post-match following Ronaldo’s tantrum against Spurs. “I will deal with that tomorrow”, the manager replied when asked by reporters, a club statement followed in the ensuing days that Ronaldo was dropped for Chelsea and him training with the Under 23’s became public knowledge soon after a discussion between the pair at Carrington. The extent of said conversation will never be known, as again ten Hag kept shtum before his side played Chelsea. No sugar coating, no public humiliation, just firm answers that asserted his status as captain of the ship – this is my team, I am responsible, and what happens here is my business and not yours.
But further to his excellent handling of the Ronaldo situation (contrary to the beliefs of Jake Humphries, Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Sounness and other leading figures in sport), his aptitude at managing people is there to be seen in the performances each week by players who previously had, well, been utterly garbage. He has David de Gea attempting to develop his game, Luke Shaw seems to be bouncing back from a torrid start, Diogo Dalot turning in the type of performances that seemed impossible 6 months ago and Marcus Rashford regaining the spring in his step that looked lost for so long now. In Dalot and Rashford, ten Hag has lit a fire that is burning ever brighter as each game passes. Even Anthony Martial has been seen to be trying in his small cameos thus far.
With a visible style of play, organisation the likes of which we fans haven’t seen in years and a passion and commitment endearing us all to the likes of Lisandro Martinez and Antony, the coming years bring a real optimism with them. Erik ten Hag is laying the foundations for success, maybe not now, maybe not next season, but I’m buckled in and ready for the ride.
