On the Ineos compass displayed at the company’s headquarters in Knightsbridge, roughly 80 degrees west of ‘don’t do dumb s**t’ is another thing Sir Jim Ratcliffe does not like that could well apply to Manchester United and boss Erik ten Hag — making the same mistake twice.
Anyone who witnessed United’s capitulations in stoppage time at both Brentford and Chelsea over the past week would recognise the familiar failings in Ten Hag’s side.
At the Gtech Community Stadium last Saturday night, they led in the 99th minute and drew. Five miles down the road at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, United were 3-2 up in the 100th minute and lost 4-3.
Instead of six points, they got one. For a team playing catch-up in the race for Champions League places, and a manager whose job prospects may well hinge on qualifying for Europe’s elite competition, making the same mistake twice could have serious consequences.
Only, it is more than twice. Much more. This season has produced a catalogue of errors, from the crazy Champions League ties against Galatasaray, Bayern Munich and Copenhagen to the kind of Premier League madness we witnessed in west London this past week. Great for the neutrals, less so for United fans.
How naive were we for thinking the drama had peaked in that FA Cup tie for the ages three weeks ago when Amad Diallo’s 121st-minute goal snatched a 4-3 win over Liverpool in a stupendous quarter-final at Old Trafford.
When Jurgen Klopp’s side return tomorrow looking to take another step towards winning the Premier League title, the mood at United could not be more different.
The manner of defeat against Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea must have taken Ten Hag back five years to a heartbreaking Champions League semi-final defeat when the two men were in charge of Ajax and Tottenham.
As he sifted through the wreckage of his team’s collapse at Stamford Bridge, Ten Hag expressed hope his players could use their pain as a positive against Liverpool.
‘We will be mad and angry, and you can take a lot of energy from that, and that is the way we have to do it,’ he said. ‘First, I have to deal with this (Chelsea), but we can’t deal with this long. We have to recover quickly. We have to turn this around, so we’ll be in a positive mood, looking forwards.’
What is unfathomable about Ten Hag’s second season at Old Trafford is that he was meant to bring method to United, not madness. In that sense, he seems the perfect fit for Ineos and, who knows, might still be.
Rigour is another of Ratcliffe’s favourite words which, according to the dictionary, means doing things in a strict and thorough way. When Ten Hag met United executives for his job interview in Amsterdam two years ago, they were blown away by his attention to detail and the sheer amount of data he brought with him.
The Dutchman is a student of the game and talks consistently about his players sticking to a process.
However, as the man ultimately responsible for performances and results, he has been doing a passable impersonation of Captain Chaos these past few weeks.
It has got him to Wembley again and an FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City. Winning the Cup in 2016 was not enough to save Louis van Gaal, but it could feasibly buy Ten Hag more time.
However, Champions League qualification has been used as a yardstick for United managers before, and it will be a key factor again. Ten Hag acknowledged that it will be very difficult after falling 11 points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa with a game in hand and nine behind Tottenham, in fifth, with a far inferior goal difference to both his rivals.
Asked if United now need to win all eight of their remaining league games, he said: ‘I think so, yeah.
‘In stoppage time this week, we have dropped five points. It’s very expensive. The points are getting more expensive because the games are running out.
‘(Chelsea and Brentford) were an example of how to get a big game over the line and get three points. We have to step up and make better decisions.
‘We have to catch up and we are now many points behind, so it will be difficult.
‘But we will keep fighting and I’m sure you see, our team, they have character. They are resilient and I’m sure they will be there on Sunday to be in the fight against Liverpool.’
The feeling at United is that nothing is cut and dried regarding Ten Hag’s future. He is still involved with Ineos in planning for the summer and next season, and there will certainly not be a kneejerk reaction to the events of the past week.
There is an understanding that winning the FA Cup and finishing strongly would paint a very different picture to losing against Coventry and falling away over the remaining league games.
Then there is the issue of identifying any potential successors, with United’s new leadership group unlikely to be in place until this summer at the earliest following moves to appoint Omar Berrada as chief executive, Dan Ashworth as director of football and Jason Wilcox as technical director.
Amid the uncertainty off the pitch and unceasing drama on it, Ten Hag must continue staking his claim to be given a third season in charge. The 54-year-old is convinced he will be given that opportunity.
‘I don’t have any doubts,’ he said. ‘I’m just focusing on my job, focusing on this process, in this project. I really love to be here, I’m enjoying it. It’s a challenge.
‘Results will not always go the way we want, but I’m sure we’re in the right direction and we will get where we want to be.’
Keags
2
That’s crazy because his nature is to humiliate and be cruel to his players, to try and implement his own egotistical self importance, in so doing he’s brought anything but calmness to the team. He’s now spent over £400,000 on players he wanted and the results has been as erratic as his coaching style has been, it’s all been anything except consistency. I keep saying he has a good squad, but they need a good coach who knows how to manage both the established and young players and that isn’t ETH
You're right there. His biggest downfall is man managing. He is really poor in that regard. I'm also not a fan of his in game tactics. He never seems to have a plan b or c. Those are big flaws for a manager at this level.
pomboy11
0
Erik teh hag is a completely useless coach in the world, he has no tactics,no method of playing, everything about him is a failure , man utd 1-4 Liverpool am tired of supporting useless coach, he has no brain at all please leave my dearly club
dyu think any coach in the world would win a title with Man utd this season.?
pomboy11
0
That’s crazy because his nature is to humiliate and be cruel to his players, to try and implement his own egotistical self importance, in so doing he’s brought anything but calmness to the team. He’s now spent over £400,000 on players he wanted and the results has been as erratic as his coaching style has been, it’s all been anything except consistency. I keep saying he has a good squad, but they need a good coach who knows how to manage both the established and young players and that isn’t ETH
did your team ever play their 3rd and 4th choice center backs...? the team will be inconsistent because frequent injuries hamper the chemistry between players.. the players won't be in sync since the lineup changes every weekend... Let's not ignore how Man utd were last season, they were strong...
EmeraldJ
2
ETH was a great Coach at Ajax Amsterdam. And it may not really be that Manchester United are bigger than him, I don't think so... I personally think that he came in on a wrong footing. He had already decided the changes he wanted to make even before starting up the role. He came and started implementing his offsetting role without first studying the terrain. Trust me, his treatment of CR7, De Gea and then Sancho set a very wrong precedence for him. These three may not really be at their best but you can't deny their overwhelming influences in the dressing room. If you had pushed them away and have better alternatives to give you the needed results, you will be hailed as a genius just like Pep did with Yaya Toure and Heart. But when you pull the rod on some senior and performing players and the ones that replaced them performing worse, then you've killed your career as a coach and shot yourself in the foot
Mapabeimru
4
That’s crazy because his nature is to humiliate and be cruel to his players, to try and implement his own egotistical self importance, in so doing he’s brought anything but calmness to the team. He’s now spent over £400,000 on players he wanted and the results has been as erratic as his coaching style has been, it’s all been anything except consistency. I keep saying he has a good squad, but they need a good coach who knows how to manage both the established and young players and that isn’t ETH
suhabckr
0
dalot suppose to collect 50 latches of cane
Fitcenpuy
1
hag I was warning u abt getting sack u made Bruno captain e only see three players dat e passes da ball to garnacho ,Rashy an himself an remember u keep playing rash an Bruno u going into da sack
Toyemnpstu
0
Player development director is his level
rupbcelntz
2
Method and calmness (umm🤔) How about Chaos and Panic (👍😠)
hartheyxsegun
0
Erik teh hag is a completely useless coach in the world, he has no tactics,no method of playing, everything about him is a failure , man utd 1-4 Liverpool am tired of supporting useless coach, he has no brain at all please leave my dearly club
The coach substitution killed that game, why remove Gernacho and Hojlund when you're in need of more goals to finish the game. What impact did Rashford make on the pitch, why is Bruno still playing 90 mins??? The coach is to blame. He is poor at substitution. Ten Hag needs to go!!!
jauceklnst
4
Bruno shitnandes is not fit to be the captain of United..he is too emotional n cry always n loses his head very quickly..also throwing arms at fellow teammates..he himself makes so many mistakes n have a very bad touch..loses ball unnecessarily..n blames other players...he runs like headless chicken..he doesn't know how to be disciplined n do minimum errors n stick to his position...he is only playing because he can make that Hollywood pass in a game at any time..there is no other reason he is playing.. he can't control himself how he will manage to guide or lead the team when we face extra time n situations like Chelsea's match.. absolutely pathetic he is... ETH is also stubborn n stupid...his in game management is piss poor n he makes same mistake twice..he doesn't know how to substitute a player.. it's just chaos at man United.. ten hag n Theses overrated players like Bruno rashford casemiro mctominay shaw lindelof all should be thrown out of man United..
gm11
0
Erik teh hag is a completely useless coach in the world, he has no tactics,no method of playing, everything about him is a failure , man utd 1-4 Liverpool am tired of supporting useless coach, he has no brain at all please leave my dearly club
The players are too blame did you not see Dalot costing us the game 3rd and 4th goal was all his fault. The defence again failed us just like they did against Brentford. Most games we lost this season is due to the defence and injuries you can't see that well too bad.
nowbeklry
4
Erik teh hag is a completely useless coach in the world, he has no tactics,no method of playing, everything about him is a failure , man utd 1-4 Liverpool am tired of supporting useless coach, he has no brain at all please leave my dearly club