A dark storm is gathering over Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag amid the team’s struggles. At the weekend, he almost presided over the most embarrassing semi-final defeat in the club’s history.
Manchester United are still alive in the FA Cup, just about. The team needed a penalty shootout to beat Coventry City, and would have lost in extra-time, if not for a VAR intervention.
This followed a nightmare end to the 90 minutes where Manchester United were leading 3-0 until the 71st minute.
Coventry City then fought back to draw 3-3, with United somehow giving up a three-goal lead.
What Erik ten Hag had to say about Manchester United’s collapse
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag spoke after the game about Coventry’s fightback and admitted he was unhappy with his players.
Ten Hag told ITV: “We had control for 75 minutes and have to give Coventry a compliment for what they did in the last 15 minutes.
“We have to improve. We talk a lot about this. First you have to put yourself in a winning position but then you have to take it over the line.
“In these moments we are making mistakes and not keeping our responsibilities.”
These words seem familiar. Manchester United’s win was barely worth celebrating. It was an embarrassing way to limp over the line, and Ten Hag’s words about fixing mistakes seems hollow, they should not be happening in the first place.
Falling apart is a theme for Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United in 2023/24
Manchester United lacked resilience against Coventry, crumbling with an alarming predictability as soon as the first goal went in.
It has been a theme for Erik ten Hag’s United to concede multiple goals in quick succession this season.
- 28th and 32nd minute goals in4-3 defeat to Bayern Munich
- 45th and 45+9 goals in 4-3 defeat to Copenhagen
- 85th and 90+5 goals in4-3 win over Wolves
- 90+10 and 90+11 goals in 4-3 loss to Chelsea
- 44 and 45+2 goals in 4-3 win over Liverpool
- 21 and 26 goals in 3-2 win over Aston Villa
- 68 and 73 goals in3-0 defeat to Bournemouth
The manager cannot blame the three late goals conceded to Coventry as a freak, and his post-match comments do little to inspire confidence he can prevent it happening again.
There is a lack of leadership on the pitch,while Ten Hag’s tactics – already of concern to United fans – are clearly flawed.
The Coventry game highlighted what we feared, that if you get at this United side, they will crumble.
One late collapse must still haunt Erik ten Hag
Erik ten Hag has experienced a semi-final collapse once before, in the Champions League with Ajax in 2019.
His Ajax side were leading 3-0 on aggregate against Tottenham Hotspur, before Lucas Moura scored in the 55th minute.
The Brazilian scored again in the 59th minute, before a decisive strike in injury time to make the tie 3-3, and eliminate Ajax on away goals.
Five years on, Ten Hag is still blowing 3-0 semi-final leads. Is this merely coincidence, or something far more worrying?
His United side were naive and unprofessional against Coventry, lacking the ruthless killer instinct and nous to see the game out.
Ten Hag’s United have never won a game by more than three goals during his two years at the club. Coventry were there for the taking to ramp up the advantage and go on and win 4-0, 5-0 or more, instead, the unthinkable happened.
