– The simple answer is that it has been a historically bad start. There is something fundamentally wrong with that team now. They don’t connect at all, and it’s unbelievably strange. This is how TV 2 commentator Øyvind Alsaker sums up Manchester United’s start to the season under Erik ten Hag. After two straight 0-3 defeats at home, against city rivals Manchester City and Newcastle United, the pressure on Manchester United’s Dutch coach increases. The supporters are once again worried about the weekend before the league match against Fulham on Saturday. SLAGEN MANN: Mason Mount and the rest of the United players have had every reason to hang their heads in recent times. Photo: Dave Thompson / AP – It is critical now, and a “point of no return” is approaching. The concern is that it is all too familiar and something we have been through before, says united.no journalist Eivind Brennhovd Holth. Failing on all fronts After great success with Dutch Ajax, ten Hag was to enter the gates at Old Trafford and get used to one of the biggest club grounds in the world. It started well, with several impressive performances, victory in the league cup and third place in the league. But this season the results have been slow to come. With a paltry fifteen points in ten league games, the big club has fallen behind its rivals. In the Meisterliga, they are far from guaranteed advancement, even in a (on paper) affordable group. They are out of the cup and their performances have largely failed. – The points they have obtained have not come impressively. They have been dependent on heroic, individual performances in several of the matches. They have not impressed. They have simply been lucky, says Alsaker. – Sit openly not safe The storm around Manchester United shows no signs of calming down, quite the opposite. It doesn’t just look bad on the pitch, there is a lot of noise outside as well. Disciplinary cases surrounding Mason Greenwood, Antony and Jadon Sancho have received a lot of attention. The ownership situation is messy and unclear. Manchester United legend Andrew Cole said on Wednesday night that Old Trafford is no longer a place opponents fear. Both Manchester City and Newcastle fans have sung “You’ll be fired tomorrow” to Erik ten Hag. COMMENTATOR: Øyvind Alsaker. Photo: TV 2 Alsaker thinks it looks like the Dutch coach has lost his dressing room. – Something or other is wrong in the playing group. Which is hard to say. But they don’t accept, don’t understand or don’t bother to carry out what is Ten Hag’s plan. What will come of it is difficult to say. What is clear is that every match from now on is like a kind of exam for Ten Hag, says Alsaker, and underlines: – He is clearly not safe. – The top sport is merciless Football expert in Viaplay, Lars Tjærnås, shares Alsaker’s opinion. He describes this autumn as “a big downturn”. – I think Manchester United have an intense desire not to fire yet another manager. Then the bottle spout will point even harder back at those who sit on the floors above and cast a merciless light on owners and management and their lack of competence. EXPERT: Lars Tjærnås. Photo: NTB – Still, I don’t think he is safe, at least if we don’t see a clear improvement in results and achievements quickly, says Tjærnås. Erik ten Hag has to endure harsh criticism from several British newspapers after the start of this season. “Ten Hag Out”, i.e. out with Ten Hag, trended on X, formerly Twitter. Tjærnås believes that Ten Hag has helped to create its own fall height after the good debut season. – Top sport is merciless. As a manager in a top club, regardless of your playing style or how pleasant you are as a person, you must always win enough games. His problem, in addition, is that after last season he created and created expectations of slightly better times. That is why the downturn this autumn is extra brutal, and the biggest danger for a manager is when the gap between expectations and results becomes too large, he says. – The results have been too bad, but even more frightening is that the performances have been even weaker, and that they are actually a bit lucky to have so many points. Perhaps the most worrying thing is that I don’t see many signs of a quick recovery. And I see fewer and fewer. Deep down in the mud Holth in the Scandinavian supporters’ club for Manchester United, what we see now reminds me of Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s last weeks as Manchester United boss. The journalist believes that United stand out as a team that is completely lacking in self-confidence, and that the most difficult thing for Ten Hag will be to build him up again. – There is one thing the team here depends on now, and it is good experiences. Bad results push the team further into the mud, he says, and says that he does not see any immediate improvement or solution. – None of the previous coaches have managed to dig themselves out of similar situations. The only thing like Ten Hag is that he finds solutions that make United win matches with good performances to rebuild their self-confidence. The hunt for the good experiences starts on Saturday at 1.30pm. Then the Red Devils travel to Craven Cottage to face Fulham.
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The Manchester United crisis amazes the experts – the coach does not think he is safe – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcasting schedule
