Erik Ten Hag has been dismissed as manager of Manchester United following results that leave the English giants languishing 14th in the league. The Dutchman’s firing isn’t a shock. But the way in which he failed to instil his preferred tactics or make them work is.
Today, I am looking at the principal reasons, mostly from a tactical standpoint, why Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United stay was doomed to fail.
Pre-Manchester United Career
Erik Ten Hag was the young hotshot manager when Manchester United expressed an interest in bringing him to Old Trafford. The team’s board ought to consider that before having Ruben Amorim sign as the Dutchman’s replacement.
A dependable, if unremarkable, centre-back, Ten Hag spent his entire career playing in the Dutch first and second tiers of football, most notably for Twente.
After serving as assistant manager of Bayern Munchen under Pep Guardiola, he got the chance to coach Utrecht and then Ajax Amsterdam. Managing a generation of talented players, mostly produced by the club’s academy, Ajax played thrilling football and even reached the Champions League semi-final.
Erik Ten Hag signed up for Manchester United in the summer of 2022.
Promising to Create the Ultimate Pressing Team
At the very start, Erik ten Hag used just the right lines on reporters and fans of Manchester United. He promised to create an ultra-aggressive pressing team. His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, notoriously lacked in this department.
In the 2024/25 season, Manchester United is a mid-table team in terms of goals conceded. Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo made around 2.5 tackles and 0.6 and 1.6 interceptions per game. Those are not terrible individual figures.
However, the team has consistently looked weak when defending against quick counterattacks. Pressing on the wings has often resulted in creating space for the opposition. And, notoriously, there’s a great disconnect between the defence and midfield, which creates great gaps.
Yes, Ten Hag attempted to create an ultra-aggressive pressing team and even brought in players like Casemiro and Manual Ugarte, who can help in this regard.
But everything else about the tactics, about the way that the team builds up or positionally defends a counter-attack, has created a great disconnect.
Tactical Hodgepodge = No Tactical Identity
Simply put, it’s hard to say just what Erik Ten Hag’s tactical approach has been at Manchester United. While the team lined up in a modern 4-2-3-1 where every player, including goalkeeper Andre Onana, was to help the build-up phase, this approach didn’t work out often.
The formation has been kept consistent throughout the season. The tactical approach, however, has not.
Erik Ten Hag may have won the 2024 FA Cup final against Manchester City in the greatest victory of his career in England. But he did so playing with a highly compact team and extremely direct football without, essentially, any striker.
During his reign, Ten Hag switched to a fluid 4-3-3 or even a formation featuring a back three. He blamed this, at the time, on United’s frequent list of injuries.
Ten Hag’s Manchester United never found out how they wanted to attack. They’ve rarely been able to break down a team using a low defensive block, and no amount of money thrown at the problem has managed to change that.
Player roles often changed as well. Team captain Bruno Fernandes started the 2022 season as a playmaker. He has often been used as a wide player or even as a central attacker.
Ten Hag has also failed to settle on a central defensive partnership. Maguire, Lindelof and Evans all had their time in the starting elven. And, while De Ligt and Martinez are closest to what Ten Hag wants, this partnership hasn’t worked much better.
Finally, Ten Hag never used the opportunity to use five subs to his advantage. Manchester United notoriously leaked goals in final minutes of games as was the case throughout this Europa League campaign.
Wasteful, Expensive Transfers that Solved Little
Famously, Erik Ten Hag was allowed to spend over £600 million in two and a half years at the club. The board allowed this in a bid to restructure the team from the ground up.
However, some of these transfers seemed too expensive, while others completely missed the mark.
Antony was brought into Manchester United for £86 million but quickly became a forgotten bench warmer. Mason Mount was brought in for £60 million with a contract that will cost the club a fortune but was either injured or on the subs bench.
Casemiro was a Champions League winner who slotted well into the setup initially, but he cost £70 million, has a massive contract and will be hard to move on.
Rasmus Højlund possesses amazing potential. But he, too, has cost £72 million and hasn’t yet solved the team’s attacking issues.
Andre Onana was brought in to become the team’s ultimate ball-playing goalkeeper. He hasn’t been bad, but hardly has he been an improvement over David de Gea, whom Ten Hag unceremoniously kicked out.
How many of these players will fetch a similar transfer fee when they are moved on?
What is Next for Ten Hag and Manchester United?
Fans of Manchester United generally liked Ten Hag and wanted him to succeed. At the end of last season, as the team lifted the FA Cup, there was a real movement to allow the manager more time in order to move closer to his vision.
But what was that vision, really? Few Manchester United games displayed a tactical identity irrespective of the results of those games.
Sitting 14th in the league after 9 games and facing elimination from the Europa League, it’s hard to argue against the decision to sack Erik Ten Hag.
The manager will move on, surely. But finding a job on par with this one is unlikely. He’ll need to prove himself again, most likely in the Eredivisie.
As for whoever takes on the role at Manchester United, Ruben Amorim or anyone else, they’ll face an uphill battle. Manchester United didn’t just back Erik Ten Hag. No, the club bet almost everything on him. Now, the new manager will have to solve Manchester United’s new and old issues.
