Why Man United's Biggest Problem Is Erik Ten Hag
Manchester United were a toenail away from arguably the most humiliating defeat in FA Cup history. But despite the manager's assertions that their victory should be celebrated, Coventry City showed four times precisely what is wrong with Erik Ten Hag's management... and why he'll not be able to fix it. FourFourTwo's Adam Clery unpacks the match as a whole, and says it might be time for the Dutchman to move on.
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00:00Buenos dias, guten tag and ari's war kid, Adam Cleary from 442 here and you've seen
00:09it, you saw it, man, United vs Coventry, you saw, you saw that, yeah?
00:14To kick this video off, I need to tell you something really important, okay?
00:18Like last year, I can't remember exactly when it was, but I promised myself two things.
00:22One, I would never say something was sh** if I could say something was good instead.
00:27And two, I would never say a manager has to go.
00:31But that's a game of football, from a Manchester United perspective, was just sh** and there
00:37was a moment in it that made me realise that that man, Eric Ten Hag, has to go.
00:46Okay, so this does not qualify as insight in any way, shape or form, but just look at
00:53these starting XI's, like I know it's not perfect for Man United, they've got to improvise
00:57at centre-back with Casemiro, but just again, take in the level of experience, the amount
01:04of quality available there, the number of internationals, the big players, everything.
01:10How did it come to what it did?
01:11They raced into a 3-0 lead, looked in absolutely no danger of even getting a scare in this,
01:16so how, how does this team throw away a 3-goal lead, not to a top European team, not to one
01:23of these Premier League sides that have got loads of quality and can't hurt anybody if
01:27they can just get it together, to this Coventry City side, 8th in the Championship, whose
01:33most recent fixture was getting beat 3-0 off a Birmingham City team in the relegation zone.
01:39How?
01:40How, how, how, how, how?
01:41Thing is, the answer's like, not even complicated, like with an hour gone, Coventry made a triple
01:46substitution to change their shape from a, like a 3-5 hybrid backline to just a simple
01:524-2-3-1, kind of matched Man United up, but they did so in a way that was specifically
01:57designed to give them better out-balls when they were under pressure, and Man United were
02:01just like, oh, well, how on earth can we possibly resist this?
02:06So first off, fair play to Mark Robbins, because at 3-0, a lot of managers would just be like,
02:10ah, well, let's just make sure we don't concede any more and we don't get humiliated today,
02:14but he looked at the game and he thought, I actually think there are ways we can get
02:18at them now, and he made his changes accordingly.
02:20So two things he obviously noticed about Man United, first off is that Casemiro's playing
02:24right-sided, centre-back, and Scott McTominay's taking his place in the midfield, and the
02:28problem this created was that a, Scott McTominay absolutely adores to bomb all the way forward,
02:34it's how he got on the end of that cross for the first goal, but also Casemiro's lack of
02:38recovery pace, his sluggishness, means he's unlikely to drift too far forward, he doesn't
02:44want to get caught out of position.
02:45Now theoretically, that's not a massive problem for Man United, because one of their major
02:49issues in the Premier League this season is this disconnect between defence and attack,
02:53the defence will sit quite deep naturally anyway, so Casemiro hasn't got to worry too
02:57much about running back the other way, but as you can see here, it does create quite
03:02a large gap in this right-sided channel, McTominay's going to be too far forward, Casemiro's not
03:07going to step into it, there is an opportunity there.
03:10So one of Coventry's substitutions was to bring on Victor Torb, and would you just like
03:14to see his heat map from when he was substituted on, like where he was doing all his work?
03:19Oh wow, would you look at that, it's in the enormous gap that Man United were leaving
03:23between McTominay and Casemiro, that's quite good isn't it?
03:26Another one of Man United's problems is that Marcus Rashford has those centre-forward instincts,
03:31so despite starting on the left-hand side, he's never going to go down the byline, he
03:34wants to get alongside the other centre-forward, he wants to get in goal-scoring positions,
03:38which puts a lot of responsibility on the left-sided full-back to get up and provide
03:42that width.
03:43Luke Shaw's obviously very good at it, Dalot's very good at it as well, but today they had
03:46Aaron Wan-Bissaka at left-back, who I think is one of the best individual 1v1 defenders
03:52in the Premier League, but also quite bad at sort of managing the space behind him.
03:57And with Kobe Maneuw as ever being required to pretty much play the entire width of the
04:01pitch to cover all the various gaps that are going on, that left an enormous amount
04:05of space here.
04:06And so another one of Coventry's substitutions was to bring on Fabio Tavares, and would you
04:11like to see his heat map from this game?
04:14And oh gee, oh gosh, would you look at that, he's playing in the space left behind Wan-Bissaka,
04:20that's interesting as well isn't it?
04:22But the thing is, right, and I mean this with so much respect to Coventry City, right, that
04:26is not Mo Salah, who's now suddenly found endless room on the right-hand side, that
04:31is not Kevin De Bruyne, who's suddenly found endless space in the centre of the pitch.
04:36These are just two really good outballs for Coventry City, they should in theory have
04:41made the game more balanced, allowed them to get up the field a bit more, maybe start
04:45creating a couple of chances.
04:46You see, this is how Coventry City started to get a foothold in this game, but it's categorically
04:51not the reason why they scored three goals in normal time and should have gone on to
04:56win the thing before penalties.
04:58The reason for that is entirely down to Man United.
05:03What happened was that the game changed around them, they ceased to be having things all
05:08of their own way, and instead of just making really just simple, boring alterations to
05:13either their system, their approach to anything, to stop Coventry getting back into it, they
05:17instead just completely fell apart.
05:21So with 3-0, seemingly randomly, Diogo Dalot starts inverting into the centre of the pitch
05:25to try and keep an eye on Ojeb, but for whatever reason, he gets drawn out, even beyond where
05:32Kobe Mane is here, so Man United are massively overloaded on the left-hand side.
05:36Now I can't get a camera angle that includes them both here, but Anthony is like miles
05:40away holding the width and staying quite high on the right-hand side, Scott McTominay is
05:45up with Fernandes and Hoyland for some reason, they're just so disorganised, so all over
05:50the place that when the ball comes back after their own clearance, this is the shape of
05:54their back four.
05:55The ball goes out to Tavares on the right-hand side, and shock and awe is in all that space
06:00behind Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Sims is the obvious target for this, so Dalot scrambles to get
06:05back into the centre and reorganise, but he knows he won't get goalside quick enough,
06:10so here, he points to Casemiro, you have to get this man, you, you there sir, you go
06:16him please.
06:17Now this obviously looks really bad for Casemiro, but the problem is he can't go here now sir,
06:23you please, because Haji Wright is right behind him, he's now effectively having to mark both
06:27of these players for the same cross, because Man United were so open and so disorganised.
06:33And just to pause it, and I'm going to be doing this quite a lot, at the moment that
06:36ball gets to Ellis Sims, Manchester United have given him this much room in the box.
06:43This is the shape of their back four, and this is the amount of room between the two
06:48centre-backs.
06:49And Coventry simply were not capable of making that kind of chance in the first half, because
06:53Tavares wasn't there, they weren't exploiting that space behind Man United, so they've made
06:58a good change that's now led to them getting a goal, you have to then adapt, you have to
07:03fix that.
07:04So despite that first goal, Ten Hag does make a change, he takes off Kobe Meunier for Christian
07:09Eriksson, the thinking obviously being Eriksson's way more experienced in these big games, he's
07:13probably a bit more positionally aware, he should provide us a little bit extra control,
07:18he probably won't get caught wrong side as much as Meunier might.
07:21But just allow me to ask you the tactical question, that I can't believe Ten Hag wasn't
07:26asking himself, when the two major changes your opponents made are A, exploiting this
07:31space here, and B, freeing up somebody here, in what way, and I'll show you Eriksson's
07:36heat map, does this player impact either of those problems?
07:41Now it is a tricky one that, so I'll just give you a couple of seconds to think about
07:44it, okay?
07:55He doesn't!
07:56Seven or eight minutes later, Man United push up the field, they put Coventry under a little
08:00bit of pressure, and one of the defining characteristics, one of the main things about this side, in
08:05Ten Hag's own words, is they're supposed to be a great transitional team, so when the
08:11ball changes between one team to the other, you know what to do, you react quickly and
08:15you make opportunities out of that.
08:16But when they lose the ball, the counter press, which is them trying to win it back straight
08:20away so you can take advantage of the sort of disorganisation in the opposition, is weak
08:25as piss, and Coventry can just play out into the enormous space Man United have left by
08:30pushing up the field.
08:31And Man United fans, if you're watching this, has this not just become the defining image
08:36of your entire season?
08:38Like a random assortment of players, all in the wrong position, sprinting back towards
08:43their own goal, with a huge gap between those at the back and those coming in from midfield.
08:48Like how many times, you know what, I'm going to play the clip again, because we made a
08:52super cut of this like a month ago, this happens every single game.
08:57And again, just to pause it and draw the lines on, this is the current shape of Manchester
09:01United's back four, like this is Christian Eriksen, not even really supposed to be there,
09:05he's on the wrong side.
09:06But the thing that must be truly maddening, if you're a Man United fan, it's just, look
09:11at when the ball gets out to him here, like they've got the numbers back, there's not
09:15an overload, it's not an easy chance whatsoever, and yet he's still got all of this space,
09:21like Anthony shouldn't be there, McTominay should be closing that down, Fernandes is
09:25just kind of trots along, like there's so many individual decisions here that are just
09:30wrong.
09:31And obviously it's an incredibly fortunate deflection, you could let him do that a hundred
09:34times again, he probably wouldn't score any of them, but just watch this slow down, look
09:38at all the different Man United players who could make a decision to better close that
09:43shot down, who could throw themselves in front of it, and just none of them do.
09:48And yes, okay, that's a very weird penalty, I think Aaron Wan-Bissaka was incredibly unlucky
09:53to have that given against him, but just the amount of things leading up to that, which
09:56just scream, we don't know what we're supposed to be doing, is again, staggering.
10:0292nd minute, Man United are hanging on, and for some reason, their centre-forward and
10:06number 10 are defending the left-hand side of the pitch.
10:09Now given that that space was pretty open, hey, maybe that's a good idea, maybe that's
10:13something Ten Hag has called for from the sidelines, maybe that's a way he's organised
10:16them.
10:17Well let's just watch them for a second, right, first of all, Fernandes points there, tells
10:21Hoyland he should go to that player, and then when the ball switches, Hoyland starts
10:25to go, but then changes his mind and points for Fernandes to go there instead, and in
10:29the end, neither of them come close to blocking the cross.
10:32Now I don't know, maybe I'm being too harsh here, but that does not, to me, look like
10:35two players who, again, know what they are supposed to be doing.
10:39But that's okay, for now, because Man United win the header, and the ball drops very gently
10:44into this bit of the pitch, that sort of right-hand side, half-space between where McTominay
10:49and Casemiro were, you know, the part of the pitch they specifically brought Torp on
10:54to get into.
10:55And once again, we'll pause it, this is the shape of Man United's back four, and this
10:59is not even Dalot's fault, like, nobody else was going to put pressure on that ball, he
11:04had to go out there and try and do something, but because he hasn't won it, look at all
11:08this space that just exists now, and this still is just, I can't get my head around
11:15how this can ever happen, it's a 90-second minute, you've thrown away a three-goal lead,
11:20you are hanging on with seconds to go, and your two most experienced players, Casemiro
11:27and Eriksen, in this exact moment, what are they contributing to your defensive effort?
11:34They don't have a man, they're not covering any space, they're just stood there, like
11:39a pair of dicks in the wind.
11:40Sorry, yes, I have taken my jacket off, I just went for a stress wee, and just, never
11:44mind, anyway, so the penalty, that's very unfortunate, yes, probably shouldn't get that,
11:48but they do, and it's 3-3, and then we go into extra time, and Man United are on the
11:52better side, probably, but then, it happens.
11:56But it's this bit here that is the greatest organisational sin of the lot, right, this
12:02is Taup, who's been brought on to exploit that little bit of space between the right
12:05centre-back and the right central midfielder, as that ball comes into the box, this is the
12:10amount of room Manchester United let him have.
12:16Four players who you would say are involved in a situation, and yet not one of them is
12:19close enough to throw a block in, to stop the shot, to contest anything about what happens
12:25next.
12:26And the worst part is, even if he just fresh air kicked this, and it rolled through, Ellis
12:30Sims is completely unmarked at the back post, to just welly that into the back of the net,
12:36that's unbelievably bad defending.
12:40And purely for my own amusement, I'm going to draw that line again, because, that's just,
12:47how do you even do that?
12:51So, why did I say at the start of the video that all this means that Eric Ten Hag has
12:57to go?
12:58Well, what we've just looked at here are four absolutely classic examples, if you're a Man
13:02United fan, you've seen loads of them this season, of the team being really open for
13:06somebody else, exploiting all the spaces and scoring goals as a result.
13:11But the thing is, all season, we have been told by the club, by the manager, I've even
13:15done videos on it, this is part of the plan.
13:18Man United play this way by design, they think this openness allows them to be expressive
13:24in the final third, it's what's got them up the league to as far as they are, it's what's
13:27got them to this part of the FA Cup, without this system they would never have beaten Liverpool.
13:32They want to have this really high, adventurous press, with this really low defensive line
13:35so they can contest the ball in the opposition's third and win it back, which they are quite
13:39good at.
13:40And because the defence is deep, they're not going to get caught in behind, they can hold
13:44the opposition up when they counter attack to allow other players to get back.
13:47Like that is Ten Hag ball in his own words.
13:51But this, my friends, is why this game should, I think, represent a point of no return for
13:58his tenure at Manchester United.
13:59Okay, if that's the way you want to play, then fair enough.
14:04But why do you want to play that way when you're 3-0 up against Coventry City?
14:12Because in the 62nd minute when Coventry made those changes, the game was over, like Man
14:17United had won it, this system had brought them a win in the FA Cup semi-final, but now
14:22those substitutions were going to open it up a bit more, they were going to make the
14:25game a little bit more even.
14:26So why continue to use that system?
14:31When Ellis Sims gets that first goal, any manager in the world, including Eric Ten Hag
14:36by the way, would look at that situation and be like, all right, okay, those were clearly
14:40some effective changes they've made there, but there's 20 minutes left, we're two goals
14:44up, we are miles the better side, let's just close it down here.
14:48But for some reason, with 15 minutes to go, this is the defensive shape they found themselves
14:54in.
14:55And then with just four minutes to go, this is the defensive shape they found themselves
14:59in.
15:00And then in the very last throw of the game, the last moments of the injury of the extra
15:05time, this is the shape they found themselves in.
15:08And the only conclusion I can draw as a result is that this openness, this lack of control
15:13that Man United exhibit is not part of some genius grand plan that's going to see them
15:19score loads of goals or just come good next season if they persist with it.
15:23They don't control these games of football because they're incapable of controlling games
15:28of football.
15:29Like they did get away with it here just about, but in recent weeks, they were beating Chelsea
15:34in the 90 10th minute and then somehow went on to lose that goal because if you remember
15:40that winner, they simply could not exert any control on the situation.
15:44They snatched a 95th minute winner against Brentford and still did not go on to win that
15:49game because they could not exert any control on that situation.
15:54Just to be as blunt as I can be here, right, if you cannot physically find a way of controlling
16:00a game against a championship side, when you've got a three goal lead and there's half an
16:06hour left, then you can't control a game of football.
16:10It's that simple.
16:11And all commentary had to do was make two really simple changes.
16:15One that enabled them to get on the ball in the final third, a little easier.
16:18One that enabled them to get in behind the fullback a little easier and Eric ten Haag
16:22could do nothing about it.
16:25Like he spent all season claiming this style of play.
16:28This openness is deliberate, but it's clearly bollocks because if it was, then you would
16:35just stop doing it at times like this.
16:38Like just look at all the pointing and all the players trying to cover for other players.
16:43This is not a team that in these situations has the first idea what it's supposed to do.
16:48And that can only, only be the responsibility of the manager.
16:52And I'm sorry, but get him gone.
16:56Like it's been fun, certain, you know, the best team to watch in the league if you're
17:00in neutral, absolutely.
17:01But he's got to pack them little hats up now and get walking.
17:04So yeah, for me, it's not the players or the injuries or the bad fortune or the officiating
17:09or the scheduling or anything like that.
17:10Man United's biggest problem, I think, is Eric ten Haag.
17:15But I am very aware that is just one opinion, mine, and you may have some of your own.
17:20And I would really like to take the temperature of the Man United fan base over this one.
17:24So Eric ten Haag, good, bald, ugly.
17:27Let me know in the comments below.
17:29Should they keep him?
17:30Should they stick with him?
17:31Should they give him one more season?
17:32Should they get rid of him immediately?
17:33Who would you have instead?
17:35All thoughts, all opinions, all feelings.
17:38Very welcome.
17:39Think you're too good for the comment section, though.
17:40You can get me on Twitter, X, whatever we're calling it this week, at Adam Cleary, C-L-E-R-Y.
17:45Should be probably on screen now, somewhere.
17:46The 442 socials are in the corner of the video.
17:48The latest issue of the magazine, the Arsenal Invincibles one.
17:51But if you're a Man United fan, there's still good reading in there.
17:54There always is.
17:55Available now from all good news agents and the crap ones as well.
17:58Please do consider subscribing to us here on 442.
18:00It's our favorite thing in the whole world because it's the one metric that does really,
18:04really, really help us out short of bumping into me in the street and putting £20 directly
18:09into my pocket.
18:10But until next time, friends, oh, what a mess.
18:13What, I just, I can't, I can't keep talking about Man United like this.
18:18It's just, just fix it.
18:20I don't, I don't, are you watching, Jim Ratcliffe?
18:23I don't care what you do.
18:25Just do something.
18:26Just, bye.