 "Premier League: Is Erik ten Hag the only one to blame for Manchester United's 0-3 loss to Tottenham at Old Trafford?")
Manchester United have crumbled to a new low following their 0-3 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, and that too at Old Trafford. To nobody’s surprise, this has been an underwhelming start by United to the 2024-25 season, not to forget their spiritless 1-1 draw against FC Twente in the UEFA Europa League last week.
The situation has been such that every time the Red Devils lose a competitive fixture, the spotlight falls on manager Erik ten Hag, and on reports about his sacking. Time and again, ten Hag has urged supporters to remain patient, and time and again he has called for unity within the club, something that has seemingly been missing of late.
Read | Man United manager Erik ten Hag confident he won't be sacked
Sure, a manager has to take responsibility if a team loses a match or a tournament, but despite a series of repeated failures, is Ten Hag the only one to blame here?
Lack of effort against Spurs
Erik ten Hag is possibly enduring the worst phase of his managerial career. Amid this, dealing with the high expectations of United fans presents an additional challenge. However, the blame doesn’t rest solely on the manager.
For a club to succeed at the top level, what matters is an all-round collective effort and United have clearly lacked that. The players have failed to take those big chances, something that was quite visible in their Europa League tie against Twente. In the first half against the Dutch side, United had a ball possession of 53 per cent, and had eight attempts on goal, compared to Twente’s three.
United created four chances in that match, including a big chance when Lisandro Martinez won an initial header, but the ball took a deflection towards Lars Unnerstall, the Twente goalkeeper. And while Eriksen scored the opening goal in the 35th minute, a costly error from the Denmark international would later result in United conceding a goal, with Sam Lammers finding the back of the net.
More often than not, defensive errors are what have cost United, and against Spurs on Sunday, it was the same story. It took just three minutes for the hosts to concede their first goal, courtesy of a tap from Brennan Johnson, and ever since that goal, United were on the back foot.
Against a Spurs team that was missing Son Heung-Min due to an injury.
Read | Gary Neville, experts launch attack on Ten Hag after Man United's loss to Spurs
United hardly had possession of the ball (39 per cent to be exact), their players kept losing duels and hardly had big chances as well. One exception was when the Red Devils began a counter-attack just a few minutes after conceding the opening goal, but Marcus Rashford’s shot went over the goalpost.
In the 37th minute, a cross from Marcus Rashford went all the way to Alejandro Garnacho at the back post, who opted for volley towards goal, but instead, it hit the woodwork.
Lack of a proper striker
Another problem that has haunted United is the absence of a proper striker. Rasmus Hojlund was the one striker that United could depend upon, but an injury to Hojlund has forced United to play Bruno Fernandes and Joshua Zirkzee as two false 9s.
That has not worked well for United so far, and moving Bruno to the false nine leaves a bigger gap in the midfield for Manchester United. He also tends to miss quite a few goal-scoring chances while playing as a false nine.
And Bruno’s red card for a harsh challenge against James Maddison in the Spurs game further worsens United’s worries, who play a high-flying Aston Villa next week.
Fernandes’ three-game suspension means United will miss him until 3 November, when they play Chelsea. On paper, the Red Devils have a rather comfortable fixture list in the Premier League till then, with games against Aston Villa, Brentford, and West Ham, but with this United team, nothing can be promised. And we never know which United will turn up.
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