Experience the thrill of the game

By Eduard Banulescu

Erik Ten Hag has been sacked as Manchester United manager after results left the English giants in 14th place in the league. The Dutchman’s dismissal is not a shock. But the way he hasn’t been able to implement his preferred tactics or make them work is bad enough.

Today I look at the main reasons, especially from a tactical perspective, why Erik Ten Hag’s stay at Manchester United was doomed to failure.

Career before Manchester United

Erik Ten Hag was the top young coach when Manchester United expressed interest in bringing him to Old Trafford. The team’s board should consider this before signing Ruben Amorim as the Dutchman’s replacement.

A reliable if unremarkable central defender, Ten Hag spent his entire career in the first and second Dutch football leagues, primarily for Twente.

After working as an assistant coach at FC Bayern Munich under Pep Guardiola, he was given the chance to coach Utrecht and then Ajax Amsterdam. Ajax guided a generation of talented players, largely produced by the club’s academy, played exciting football and even reached the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Erik Ten Hag has signed for Manchester United in the summer of 2022.

Promising to put together the ultimate pressing team

Right from the start, Erik ten Hag used exactly the right words to reporters and Manchester United fans. He promised to put together an extremely aggressive pressing team. His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was notoriously deficient in this regard.

In the 2024/25 season, Manchester United is in the middle of the table in terms of goals conceded. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo made about 2.5 tackles and 0.6 and 1.6 interceptions per game, respectively. These are not terrible individual numbers.

However, The team always looked weak when defending against quick counterattacks. Pressing on the wings often created space for the opponent. And as we know, there is a big gap between the defense and the midfield, which leads to big gaps.

Yes, Ten Hag has tried to put together an extremely aggressive pressing team and has even brought in players like Casemiro and Manual Ugarte who can help in this regard.

But everything else about the tactics, about the way the team counterattacks or defends positionally, has created a huge discrepancy.

Tactical hodgepodge = No tactical identity

Simply put, It’s difficult to say what tactical approach Erik Ten Hag took at Manchester United. While the team played in a modern 4-2-3-1, with every player, including goalkeeper Andre Onana, expected to help in the build-up phase, this approach didn’t often work.

The formation was kept consistent throughout the season. However, the tactical approach is not.

Erik Ten Hag may have won the 2024 FA Cup final against Manchester City, achieving the biggest win of his career in England. However, he managed to do this with a very compact team and extremely direct football, with practically no strikers.

During his tenure, Ten Hag switched to a fluid 4-3-3 or even a formation with a back three. He attributed this at the time to United’s frequent injury list.

Ten Hags Manchester United never figured out how they wanted to attack. Rarely have they managed to break down a team with a low defensive block, and no amount of money put into this problem has managed to change that.

The roles of the players also changed often. Team captain Bruno Fernandes started the 2022 season as a playmaker. He was often used as a winger or even as a central attacker.

Ten Hag also failed to settle on a central defensive partnership. Maguire, Lindelof and Evans all had their time in the starting XI. And while De Ligt and Martinez come closest to what Ten Hag wants, that partnership hasn’t worked much better.

Ultimately, Ten Hag never took the opportunity to use five substitutes to his advantage. Manchester United are known to leak goals in the final minutes of games, as has been the case throughout the Europa League season.

Wasteful, expensive transfers that provided little solution

As is well known, Erik Ten Hag was allowed to spend over £600 million on the club in two and a half years. The board allowed this to restructure the team from the ground up.

However, Some of these transfers seemed too expensive, while others completely missed the mark.

Antony was brought to Manchester United for £86 million but quickly fell into obscurity. Mason Mount was signed for £60 million in a deal that would cost the club a fortune, but he was either injured or on the substitutes’ bench.

Casemiro was a Champions League winner who initially fitted in well with the team, but he costs £70m, has a massive contract and will be hard to move on.

Rasmus Højlund has amazing potential. But he too cost £72m and has not yet solved the team’s attacking problems.

Andre Onana was named the team’s best ball-playing goalkeeper. He wasn’t bad, but he was hardly an improvement on David de Gea, who Ten Hag unceremoniously sacked.

How many of these players will receive a similar transfer fee if they move?

What’s next for Ten Hag and Manchester United?

Manchester United fans generally liked Ten Hag and wanted him to succeed. At the end of last season, when the team won the FA Cup, there was a real movement to give the manager more time to get closer to his vision.

But what was this vision really? Regardless of the results of these games, few of Manchester United’s games showed any tactical identity.

Sitting 14th in the league after nine games and facing elimination from the Europa League, it’s hard to argue against the decision to sack Erik Ten Hag.

The manager will certainly continue. However, it is unlikely that there is a job comparable to this one. He has to prove himself again, most likely in the Eredivisie.

Whoever takes the role at Manchester United, Ruben Amorim or anyone else, it will be an uphill battle. Manchester United didn’t just support Erik Ten Hag. No, the club has bet almost everything on him. Now the new coach has to solve Manchester United’s new and old problems.