A vicious circle, falling deeper and deeper!When will Ten Hag lead Manchester United out of trouble?
What Ten Hag must be clear now is that it may take a miracle to get United out of their current predicament. Although the club launched the biggest takeover deal in the history of professional sport 13 months ago, it is still the Glazer family who are now in charge of Manchester United.
There is no definite word yet that Sir Ratcliffe has successfully acquired a stake in Manchester United. The initial official announcement was tentatively scheduled for two weeks ago, then last week, and now it may be this week. United's results are still not improving, and Ten Hag has even begun to refer to a "strategic review" without even any other explanation. INEOS executive Sir Dave Brailsford has called for self-vetting from the medical department and is in the process of selecting a potential sporting director.
At the same time, before Manchester United took on Liverpool, there were injuries to players at centre-back who shouldn't have been injured. Maguire appeared to have been snubbed two months ago, but now he has regained the manager's trust. But Harry Maguire is out of action due to injury and Ten Hag will be forced to re-select the man he was previously put on the bench – Raphael Varane – which he may not be willing to do.
The cycle never seems to end – re-engaging some players, revising the acquisition plan and constantly re-evaluating the past. Manchester United desperately wanted to put this behind them, but they couldn't stop it from playing out over and over again. Just when it was thought Ten Hag was cornered, he unexpectedly won the Coach of the Month award for November. The Reds then lost at home to Bournemouth and finished bottom of the Champions League group stage. Nowadays, it seems increasingly difficult for us to discern whether United is in crisis or on the road to a revivalThese two feelings will occur in rotation during the same week.
It is hard to imagine that the Glazer family will hand over all power to a new partner.
If the feeling is confusing, the feelings of the people involved in it are certainly more complicated. Hailing from a small, remote town in the east of the Netherlands, Ten Hag is a serious, process-oriented Dutchman who is the son of a wealthy family of real estate agents and is used to dealing with certainty. However, Ten Hag has never fully solved United's problems. He was constantly fed back with the report of the investigation, pointing out the unresolved issues of authority, the problem of historical regression, and the Sancho problem, which had been going on for a long time.
Which club would delegate 100% of football decision-making power to a minority shareholder (Ratcliffe bought a 25% stake in Manchester United)?But now it could play out at Old Trafford. It may still be hard to believe that the Glazer family (primarily Joel Glazer) will hand over all the power to a new partner. Or rather, this partner will be very reliable. Most importantly, however, you have to wonder if anyone will be granted this real power.
While Brailsford is destined to be a key figure, everyone knows that sporting director is the most important position. In the early days of Jurgen Klopp's tenure, for example, Liverpool stood firm on this fundamental position in a way that satisfied everyone involved. Despite the departure of many players in the previous 18 months, Liverpool's recruitment strategy has not changed and has been carried out in an orderly manner.
United's proposed strategy, which looks like Glazer and Ratcliffe at the top, with Brailsford at the bottom, and then two levels down, is a figure not unlike Newcastle's Ashworth (and possibly himself). After that, sporting directors such as Paul Mitchell or Doughie Friedman handle the specifics of the signings. This level is equivalent to Atalanta's Lee Congleton, AC Milan's Maldini and Massara, or Atletico Madrid's Andrea Berta. There's no shortage of shrewd managers who have the ability to organise reinforcements – but the question is, who's in charge?
Who will be responsible for Manchester United's failure?At the moment, Ten Hag seems to be the one who "takes the blame". But while accepting all kinds of criticism and accusations from the outside, he is also selecting and discarding some players, and sticking to his principles internally and in the face of **. It should be said that such behavior is not always wise, but he is at least trying to make a decision. Considering United's £82million Antony deal has proven to be a mistake, it is clear that he needs a partner who can provide strong support in terms of signings – and sometimes the manager has to be smart.
On top of that, there is a complete lack of that sense of urgency on the part of the club owners and a feeling that Ten Hag's needs are not a priority for them.
If Manchester United win over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, there will be a short-lived dopamine effect, with 73,000 fans still showing up at Old Trafford every week – but what does that mean?Nothing seems to have changed since last Tuesday's defeat to Bayern Munich and United seemed to be doing just fine. That is, on the surface, everything is acceptable, they just lack a victory. Manchester United lost more than just one game – it meant the end of their European campaign this season and affected their future budgets.
In other words, United didn't see any point in that night's game. They never thought about it and didn't try to beat Bayern in any meaningful way. United's lack of a sense of crisis is evident – they are struggling to another finish – and the performance of the players, as is their stance on ownership. Manchester United put in a lot of effort, but in the end nothing changed.
Great clubs will generate momentum to keep the team moving forward through some important competitions. No one will be confused about where they are headed. When they get stuck, they look for a change and a fresh start. At Manchester United, however, change always happens 'next week'. Takeovers, strategic reviews, new sporting directors, and the head coach needs to clean up the rest of the mess.