In the 19th minute on Saturday, the Brentford fans let Manchester United in.
“You go down with Fulham,” went the chant from the west Londoners, the kind of giddy two-on-one celebration that can only happen when your already good team is made to look better by the opposition’s incompetence.
A minute later they turned their attention to new United manager Eric ten Haag. “You’ll be fired in the morning!” Fired in mooooorning! You’ll be fired in the morning!”
United are two games into the 2022-23 season and the goodwill the Ten Hag enjoyed during pre-season is fading. The 52-year-old put on a miserable figure during Saturday’s game, prompting comparisons with fellow Dutchman Frank de Boer’s disastrous five-game spell in charge of Crystal Palace at the start of the 2017-18 season.
United were miserable against Brentford, Ten Hag’s tactical scheme of playing at the back looked naive against Thomas Frank’s side.
After the 4-0 defeat, Ten Haag said: “It had nothing to do with tactics. The first two goals are about ball handling and decisions.” But the sight of Ivan Toni standing next to Lisandro Martinez, a 5ft 9in (175cm) central midfielder signed this summer for £47m ($57m), pointing to the sky during a goal, should have caused concern.
Brentford are known to be a physical team known for long, direct passes and an impressive collection of set pieces.
When they beat his Chelsea side 4-1 last season, Thomas Tuchel said he included 6ft 3in midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek in his squad in a bid to combat the expected aerial bombardment.
Knowing how to beat Brentford in the air is one thing. Doing it is another. For 94 minutes here, United were stumped on both counts.
Back-to-back defeats by Brighton and Brentford – their next game is away to Liverpool on Monday, August 22 – have left United bottom of the table (Manchester City are top) and The Hague in a difficult position. Is the former Ajax head coach another De Boer unprepared for the leap of difficulty in moving from the Eredivisie to the Premier League? Or is there more to the game?
The Dutchman was appointed United manager on April 21.
15 weeks ago it became known that Frenkie de Jong was his No. 1 target in the transfer market.
In early July, their leading striker Cristiano Ronaldo informed the club that he would not be traveling on a pre-season tour and days before the start of this season, it was announced that their other senior striker, Anthony Martial, had a hamstring injury.
United have had weeks to equip their new manager with the right tools, but now he is putting square pegs in round holes.
The goodwill gained through an encouraging pre-season is fading (Image: Ian Kington/AFP via Getty Images)
In the last seven days alone, Ten Hag have made a battle for Marko Arnautovic, only to volte and be asked about the future of one of their wings, Marcus Rashford, who looks set for a move to Paris Saint-Germain.
United have appointed a very good tactical coach, but Ten Hag has been beset by problems that hamper what he can do on the training pitch. What he can train the team to do is run into problems during competitive matches, as United’s players appear to be afflicted with a sporting form of learned helplessness.
The odd individual error continues to occur. These events then lead to a negative spiral where players lose confidence and believe the situation is hopeless.
“You can have a good plan, but we had to throw the plan in the bin,” Ten Haag added after the match, but he must be aware that his plan put a number of players with low confidence in unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations.
Every Manchester United starting goalkeeper needs to do better than David de Gea on Saturday, as does their club captain Harry Maguire, but to quote Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, a successful strategy is “matching potentially limitless aspirations with limited capabilities required”. Ten Hag was dealt a tough hand, but also played it in a suboptimal way.
The United manager said he believes this squad is capable of playing the style of football he wants, but United will need to make smarter moves in the transfer market to realize their closer plans.
Since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement following the club’s last title win in 2012-13, each permanent United manager has felt like a response to their predecessor’s failures without considering what made each one successful at previous clubs.
Flawed short-term decisions and muddled medium-term decisions led to long-term malaise. Corners have been cut to the point where United fans are left with a small, unsatisfying circle; a feedback loop of mediocrity and chaos.
Ten Hag has a strong tactical mind, but risks veering into the esoteric if he continues to follow this style of play with this starting XI.
It is not enough that United “back the manager” through raw funding and trying, with varying degrees of success, to bring in any player they want. He also needs to be supported by surrounding him with football minds who can cover any weakness, enhance his strengths and act as a suitable stand-in in difficult times.
Two games shouldn’t ruin a season, but to quote Gaddis again, “Assuming stability is one way to make ruins. Resilience accommodates the unexpected.”
United are a side bereft of resilience on the pitch and an institution plagued by dysfunction off it.
(Top photo: Getty Images)
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