Requested to summarise the connection between supervisor Erik ten Hag and Manchester United‘s new management workforce forward of the approaching season, one membership supply put it very bluntly. “It is like in a wedding and somebody’s been untrue,” they mentioned. “Now they’re again collectively and attempting to make it work.”
The parallels are apparent. United’s co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS workforce led by Sir Dave Brailsford made little secret of their doubts about Ten Hag in the direction of the tip of final season. It led to conferences with potential new companions — Thomas Tuchel and Roberto De Zerbi amongst them — earlier than lastly deciding to stay with the supervisor that they had all alongside. Ratcliffe and Brailsford have tried to create some sense of stability by extending the Dutchman’s contract by an additional yr which, in idea, retains him at Outdated Trafford till 2026.
However heading into the primary recreation of the season in opposition to Manchester Metropolis in Saturday’s Group Protect (stream reside on ESPN+, 9:50 a.m ET, U.S. solely), there stays a sense of uncertainty and loads of unanswered questions. Are United nearer to the workforce that completed eighth within the Premier League final season, or the one which beat Metropolis 2-1 within the FA Cup last? Can Ten Hag profit from his second probability, and for the way lengthy are Ratcliffe and Brailsford ready to stay with him?
There have been occasions in April and Might when Ten Hag turned visibly agitated by questions on his job, however he minimize a much more relaxed determine throughout preseason. He is refused to criticise INEOS, the conglomerate headed by Ratcliffe, for the best way it went about its enterprise after the FA Cup last and has as an alternative executed every little thing he can to grip the olive department prolonged to him.
Ten Hag mentioned in a single interview in the course of the U.S. tour that Ratcliffe’s religion would solely be confirmed in dangerous moments of poor type however, in accordance with sources, he understands the solution to strengthen his place is by getting off to begin. The Group Protect in opposition to Metropolis — a recreation caught between a preseason pleasant and one thing extra severe — is not a referendum on his future, but it surely’s coming.
Preseason defeats to Arsenal and Liverpool in the USA have largely been dismissed, however lose to Metropolis and the noise round Ten Hag will start once more. One other poor consequence when the Premier League kicks off in opposition to Fulham at Outdated Trafford subsequent Friday and the amount of these calling for a change will improve.
There was a sense final season that Ten Hag was instantly on the again foot after a lacklustre efficiency in opposition to Wolverhampton Wanderers on the opening weekend and he can not afford a repeat, significantly in entrance of Ratcliffe, Brailsford, new hires CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Requested to look again on the begin to final season and the buildup to that recreation in opposition to Wolves, sources have informed ESPN that there was a sense, even then, that one thing “wasn’t fairly proper.”
It was a tough tour of the U.S. with an excessive amount of journey and never sufficient free time for the gamers. In hindsight, it wasn’t an enormous shock to these contained in the membership that United began with six defeats from their first 10 video games. From there, the season by no means actually recovered. This summer time, Ten Hag has softened his strategy and allowed gamers out for coffees on Rodeo Drive throughout downtime between periods.
A change of itinerary was welcomed, too, with a 10-day coaching camp at UCLA in Los Angeles chosen over brief stops in a number of cities throughout completely different time zones. For probably the most half, the summer time has been seen as constructive, however that is to not say that every one the problems have gone away.
Accidents that plagued final season are again within the form of a three-month layoff for brand new signing Leny Yoro and a six-week absence for striker Rasmus Højlund, each dominated out within the very first recreation of the tour in opposition to Arsenal.
Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelöf, Luke Shaw, and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are all doubts to face Metropolis which may go away Ten Hag with solely three match senior defenders at Wembley in Lisandro Martínez, Diogo Dalot and Jonny Evans. United followers have develop into used to Ten Hag selecting the strongest attainable workforce for each recreation — significantly when there are trophies to be gained — however he mentioned greater than as soon as at his information convention on Thursday that he will not be taking “dangers” in opposition to Metropolis.
In doing so, he made it clear that he would not desire a repeat of the problems that performed such a giant half in final season’s issues. The concern is that if there are extra accidents, Ten Hag must deal with largely the identical squad as completed the 2023-24 season. Yoro has are available in to interchange Raphaël Varane and Joshua Zirkzee has arrived to interchange Anthony Martial, however most of the similar questions stay.
Are there sufficient targets? Is Casemiro nonetheless adequate to be the first-choice holding midfielder? The place is Mason Mount‘s greatest place? The checklist goes on. Ideally, United want to signal one other centre-back, a full-back and a central midfielder earlier than the deadline, however, proper now, there’s an argument that the squad isn’t any stronger than it was 12 months in the past.
Thus far, it has been a quiet switch window for lots of groups, however it’s going to concern followers that Ten Hag seems content material with the choices he has at his disposal.
“We all know what we’re doing and we’re in place with the squad,” he mentioned on Thursday. “We’ve a squad the place in each place there’s double occupation.”
The difficulty, although, is not about what number of gamers he has, however reasonably whether or not or not they’re adequate to considerably enhance on final yr’s performances. For all the issues Ten Hag skilled final season it a minimum of completed on a excessive with a trophy and this week he was eager to remind his squad of it.
With everybody again collectively at Carrington for the primary time this summer time, he held a gathering to point out his gamers photos of the celebrations after lifting the FA Cup. He informed them to recollect the sensation and challenged them to do it once more.
Beating Metropolis at Wembley two months in the past helped hold Ten Hag in a job. Do it once more on Saturday and it will likely be a constructive first step in the direction of answering some key questions and ensuring his marriage of comfort with Ratcliffe and INEOS ultimately turns into a contented one.
