Painful transition from 14 losses, 6 draws last season to more draws and less defeats

Manchester United were not expected to start winning games consistently in English Premier League after that emphatic triumph in the FA Cup final over the favourites Man City. It was a one-off albeit a brilliant performance and United did not play at that level consistently throughout last season. United were not helped in pre-season when the 'only' new player who was available in Leny Yoro injured his metatarsal to rule himself out for the start of new season. To control games, they have neither overhauled their midfield nor changed tactics which is a dire indictment of manager Erik ten Hag. Worst start to a Premier League campaign (2w, 3d, 2l, -3gd, 7pts), poorer than last season rightly raises questions over the managers future.

No United manager has survived three season's since the iconic Sir Alex Ferguson. Odds are stacked against the Dutchman as the team have failed to demonstrate an identity, a style of play in first the two seasons. Jose Mourinho lasted till December with 1-3 away loss at Anfield the 5th league defeat, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ran out of gas in November at Vicarage Road in 1-4 loss to Watford which was also the 5th league defeat. United can easily lose their next three league games to Brentford, West Ham and Chelsea if losing 5 games is the criteria.

United as a club went through a big change in football operations being divested from owners the Glazer family to Sir Jim Ratcliffe owned INEOS group. A new football leadership team has been constructed with Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox who oversaw their first transfer window wherein they agreed with Erik ten Hag to acquire his on-field lieutenant in Matthijs de Ligt in 50 million Euro's deal than to go for expensive but Premier League proven Jarrad Branthwaite who would have cost at least 70 million Euro's. Critics would argue that instead of Yoro and de Ligt, Branthwaite would have made more sense. de Ligt is now reunited with his Ajax partner Lisandro Martinez, who was a blazing success initially but succumbed to injuries that battered the Red Devils last season.

de Ligt is only 25 needs time to adapt to the pace of Premier League and if he can bring the leadership and stability to the back four United can become a hard to beat team. They are conceding fewer goals and shots against have also dropped significantly with the exception of that Tottenham loss. Noussair Mazraoui has had the best start to his United career so far, being consistently picked and shown his ability to pass in tight spaces under press and contribute to improved team performance from right flank. Over the last 3 to 4 seasons United's threat have only come from left with Shaw, Maguire, Rashford, Fernandes making them a one dimensional counter attacking outfit. Anthony who cost United 95 million Euro's has bombed spectacularly so far and can his previously successful partnership on right wing with Mazraoui at Ajax be rekindled remains to be seen.

Onana, Martinez, Anthony, de Ligt, Mazraoui are the five who have played under Erik ten Hag previously at Ajax and now should provide him more control of the dressing room which has been notorious in the past at Manchester United with Roy Keane even labelling them to put the manager 'under the bus'. Erik ten Hag has revamped his coaching setup and directly hired Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake, Jelle ten Rouwelaar. This clearly demonstrates the grip he has been allowed to have on the club, yet the team has struggled to get a grip on the game. First half at Crystal Palace was amazing with near total possession and 4 very good chances to score, yet the level and tempo dropped later to end in a 1-1 draw.

250 staff were made redundant recently including Neil Harris who spent close to two decades as youth coach. It was also announced that Sir Alex Ferguson will leave his role as an global ambassador at the end of this season as part of cost cutting measures. Brentford visit Old Trafford with their manager Thomas Frank being the bookies favourite now (as Thomas Tuchel has been appointed England manager) as he is considered close to new United leadership team and will want to press his case by securing an important win. Yet the underlying team both playing and coaching has the deep imprint of Erik ten Hag and now to translate that to 90 minutes will need Manual Ugarte to succeed as Kobbie Mainoo has picked up injury. Ugarte had a brilliant Copa America with Uruguay in the summer but joined United late in the transfer window missing pre-season and thrust directly into action. His pedigree and work-rate should make him a success.

Transfer window:
Ideal: Jarrad Branthwaite, Joao Neves, Ross Barkley, Victor Osimhen, Noussair Mazraoui
Actual: Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Manual Ugarte

Manchester United have started the transition to draw more than lose and being defensively solid. Erik ten Hag has remained patient delivering two trophies in two years and not lost his temper like Jose Mourinho did. Erik ten Hag giving preference to trophies over 'playing style' at United is totally misplaced but crucially it gives him time. 14th position is clearly unacceptable but riding these many changes at the club while football goes on is a challenge. Erik ten Hag has negotiated these changes and must now translate that on the pitch. Ideally that will kick-in in second half of the season, and for now being in the saddle riding through the bumps will be tough to stomach. Mourinho's Spurs trashed Solskjaer's United 1-6 and now his ruthless test awaits ten Hag at Fenerbahce.

Attacking style of play based on reunited centre-back pairing and new backroom staff

INEOS scouted for replacements to Erik ten Hag after that special FA Cup final win against City as part of end-of-year review, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe even interviewing Thomas Tuchel in Monaco. It is thought that Brailsford in late February explored the possibilities of Gareth Southgate, Thomas Frank and Mauricio Pochettino when going was tough for Manchester United. With no convincing choice and Southgate sticking with England for the Euro's, Erik ten Hag was approached while on vacation to commit on a new contract. Erik ten Hag deliberated and took his time to ultimately settle for extending the existing terms of a deal where he will have a final say on all players and coaching staff. No manager after Ferguson has survived the dreaded 3rd year that ten Hag now enters into!

Meanwhile INEOS continued to further the plans on finalizing the future of Old Trafford by formulating a committee to be headed by Sebastian Coe, Gary Neville and Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham, who have supposedly suggested to retain a 30,000-seater Old Trafford for Women's and Youth matches while developing a brand-new stadium for Men's team at the adjacent site to the existing stadium. Final report is awaited in December. If true, this will assuage all sections of the fan base who are split between building a new stadium and redeveloping the century old marvel of Archibald Leitch, Old Trafford. Presently Carrington is getting a facelift and the Tunnel at Old Trafford has a new look.

United faced the maximum number of shots on goal for a top tier team over the course of last season. That number was embarrassingly high, crossing the 200 mark. This forced changes in the backroom staff with long time assistant Mitchell van der Gaag leaving, also 2-time goal keeping coach across two decades in Richard Hartis, Steve McLaren left to become coach of Jamaican national team, forwards coach Benni McCarthy has been released, Eric Ramsey became a coach with an MLS side. Sounds like a total clear out. In comes United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy who was available after being released by PSV Eindhoven despite winning the Dutch Cup in May, 2023. Rene Hake resigned from his position as Head coach at Go Ahead Eagles to join and has overall 15 years of experience while Jelle ten Rouwelaar is the new Goalkeeping coach from Burnley. Ruud, Rene, Jelle are all Dutch. Perhaps the most important one is that of Andreas Georgson who was managing Lillestrom in Sweden while previously being an technical set piece coach at Southampton (under Jason Wilcox), Arsenal and Brentford. 

In the last days of June, the year end for most of Premier League clubs Manchester United struck a deal with Newcastle to relieve their Technical Director Dan Ashworth and join the reds immediately. Deal making ability of Sir Jim to the fore. Next they hired the out of work Transfer Specialist formerly at Chelsea and Red Bull group in Christopher Vivell to lead the recruitment on a short term basis. Despite this appointment they had to take the services of super agents Jorge Mendes and Kia Joorabchian to secure the services of Leny Yorro (18 years) and Joshua Zirkzee (23 years) respectively. Yorro is thought to be a generational talent who had his heart set on joining Real Madrid, except that his club Lille were not ready to accept a 30million fee nor allow him to run down the last year of his contract to leave on a free transfer. Both players are deemed for the future, while this is a welcome move as supposed to going for an experienced players over the age of 30; it comes at a staggering cost of 62 million plus 42.5 million amid spending restrictions due to Profits and Sustainability Rules (PSR). United's main problem lies in midfield, someone who can win the ball back and this was not deemed as first priority to fix by the esteemed hierarchy of INEOS! Optimistically let's bracket it as 'seizing the market opportunity'. Second priority would have been left-sided centre-back as a cover for injury-prone Lisandro Martinez in Jarrad Branthwaite.

Perhaps Christopher Vivell has indeed made good progress in selling Mason Greenwood (26 million), Aaron wan Bissaka (17.6 million), Willy Kambwala (10 million), Alvaro Fernandez (6 million), Donny van de Beek (initial 500k) thus generating about 60 million in revenue from player sales. Previously United have brought players paying over odds and sold at fire-sale rates to be in perpetual and heavy loss. United are still open to selling Casemiro, Maguire, Lindelof, Sancho, Hannibal, Pellistri, Eriksen and McTominay. After long deliberations with Bayern Munich, two players who had previously worked under Erik ten Hag at Ajax have agreed to join: Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui. de Ligt was the youngest captain of Ajax side under Erik ten Hag who reached the Champions' League semi-finals and is still 25 while Mazraoui can play as full-back on either flank giving that extra flexibility. As per Fabrizio Romano, United have agreed terms with Uruguay midfielder Manual Ugarte of PSG as first choice, Sander Berge at Burnley as second choice and Sofiyan Amrabat of Fiorentina as third choice to fill the midfield role. This multi-pronged approach to pursue targets of interest is something that is completely different than the one transfer at a time strategy which used to fail at the end leaving United to go for very expensive, often wrong alternatives at a short notice. This is indeed a long pending and welcome change to transfers. United are in talks with Arsenal to agree terms for transfer of 16-year old sensation Chido Obi-Martin.



United's preseason took them to Norway, Scotland and USA. They lost their first game to Rosenberg 0-1, beat Rangers 2-0, lost to Arsenal 1-2, beat Real Betis 3-2, lost comprehensively to Liverpool 0-3. Once again there were no new players in preseason training except Leny Yorro, who after making a brilliant debut at Ibrox sustained a major injury to his metatarsal against Arsenal to be ruled out for minimum of 3 months. Yet again United are not ready for the new season as rightly called by the Gaffer. Fulham beat United at Old Trafford last season, and it's the season opener Friday night fixture. Players who impressed in the preseason tour were Toby Collyer, Harry Amass and Ethan Wheatley from the youth academy and Amad Diallo in the senior squad who is continuing his good form into next season. After Garnacho and Mainoo in previous two years, this season Erik ten Hag could hand Collyer his breakthrough.

United lost the curtain raiser of the new season in the Community Shield, losing to City 7-8 on penalties after the game ended 1-1 in normal time. Alejandro Garnacho scored the goal late in second half and United conceded an equalizer 2 minutes from time. Despite slow start United grew into the game and Rashford, Amad had good chances to win the game outright. Performance wise it was a departure from last season and hope this continues through the rest of the campaign. It's always gives good vibes if clubs best player and Captain, Bruno Fernandes commits his future by extending his contract. With Liverpool in post Klopp era and Chelsea having a new coach yet again, it's a good opportunity to finish in top 4 with City, Arsenal, Villa, Manchester United as my top 4 predictions. But finally, fans will be eagerly waiting for the team to play a style of possession based attacking football consistently. This may be realized as Erik ten Hag has his first-choice centre-back pairing from Ajax days back in Lisandro Martinez-Matthijs de Ligt, only if they get good protection in front of them and injuries are manageable.

Best performance of the season in FA Cup final leads Manchester United back into Europe

Lead-up to the FA Cup final was dire for Manchester United; tepid displays throughout the season with most of the defence being injured that made critics question the inflexible tactics and bad signings of Erik ten Hag. English Premier League concluded with United finishing 8th with -1 goal difference and record 14 defeats thus missing out on playing in European competition next season. United lost both home and away matches to Man City, Arsenal, Crystal Palace and suffered embarrassment at Old Trafford to Wolves(won), Brighton, Bournemouth, Fulham, Burnley(draw) to name a few. Despite injuries Erik ten Hag persisted with same formation due to which United were humiliated with an onslaught of attempts at their goal irrespective of the opposition. It was terrible to watch.

INEOS who took charge of sporting organization at Old Trafford despite their minority stake, started to build a structure with appointments of Omar Berrada as CEO and Jason Wilcox as Technical Director while waiting for Dan Ashworth to take charge as Sporting Director. Wilcox also reviewed Erik ten Hag's tactics and United have seen a change of formation with Bruno Fernandes playing as a false nine with no striker being selected in last 3 games of the season and win! The capitulation in FA Cup semi-final against Coventry to lose 3-0 lead, Sky Blues were denied a victory by thinnest of margins in offside rule and then finally United won on penalties. To many critics, this level of non-performance to a Championship side was simply unacceptable and managerial change an inevitability.

My comments after draw with AFC Bournemouth

United were battered by Thomas Frank's Brentford in 1-1 away draw but worst was yet to come. Losing 0-4 to Crystal Palace under inspired management of Oliver Glasner made even Erik ten Hag to admit "This was our worst defeat of the season" and accused his players of not following his instructions. United lost the next home game to Arsenal but showed some fight. Back-to-back victories over Newcastle and Brighton brought a sense of calm. Manchester derby in FA Cup final yet again as last year, and City were the overwhelming favourites to win.

Meanwhile Chelsea did a review of their season and decided to part ways with Mauricio Pochettino and Roberto de Zerbi left Brighton mutually. This started a chain reaction of clubs jostling to speak with new breed of young managers who could be moulded by the hierarchial structure of directors at top clubs now. Kieran McKenna, Enzo Maresca, Thomas Frank, Michel are all being considered for these vacancies. Vincent Kompany on the verge of becoming Bayern Munich head coach and Thiago Motta is set to manage Juventus. News started to emerge of United representatives being in touch with those of Kieran McKenna. Consequentially report was published in the Guardian that United have already decided to sack Erik ten Hag after the FA Cup final.

Erik ten Hag's number one choice of centre-half's Martinez and Varane made the XI so did defensive midfielder Sofyan Amrabat who belatedly found his form so late in the season that he was selected ahead of substandard Casemiro, who at the time of warm-up before the game withdrew citing injury. United pressed City from the start and Amrabat marked Kevin de Bruyne out of the match thus affording Mainoo and McTominay to venture forward. First goal by Garnacho exposed City's bad call to not start their experienced keeper Ederson while the second was a great team goal. Started from the back then to Fernandes to Mainoo, long from Rashfoard to Garnacho who cut in to pass to Fernandes whose deft touch opened up City's defense for Mainoo to slot the ball perfectly at the far corner. In both goals long ball was used; firstly, by Dalot to Garnacho and then by Rashford to Garnacho. To defend the late surge from City, Aaron wan-Bissaka was good to thwart the dangerous winger Doku. Onana made a few crucial saves especially the two thunderbolts from Kyle Walker and commanded the penalty area. Foden had a day to forget, so did Pep Guardiola.



United became the first team to have two teenagers score in the final of the FA Cup! It was United's 13th FA Cup! First time Guardiola has lost a Cup final in 7 attempts in England! After a drought of five years, United now have won two trophies in two years! United qualify to play in Europa League and Newcastle miss out on European football despite finishing 7th. After the last FA Cup win in 2016, Manchester United sacked Louis van Gaal and appointed a non-United like choice from purist's viewpoint in Jose Mourinho. Hope they don't do the same mistake again! This was a statement win with performance of the highest calibre from players who demonstrated they still play for the manager. Tactical masterclass to beat the best manager in the world to win the trophy that's most dear to the fans, let's give Erik ten Hag another year and see what he can achieve with a full-strength squad.

My prediction before the FA Cup final! Hurrah!!

Erik ten Hag's future uncertain despite the heroics against Liverpool in FA Cup

Oft overlooked by Erik ten Hag the Ivorian winger Amad Diallo scored an unlikely goal to help United win in 121st minute of extra time in the FA Cup quarter-finals against arch rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford. That 4-3 victory will go down as an all-time FA Cup classic. It's the 10th time that Manchester United have knocked Liverpool off in the world's oldest Cup competition, more than any other team! This match was billed as a 'Judgement Day' for the embattled Dutch coach and he came out victorious. This epic victory should have galvanized the team to finish the season stronger.

That did not happen. United gave one of their worst performances of the season to draw 1-1 at Brentford, lose in 2nd half stoppage time to Chelsea 4-3, drew with both Liverpool and Bournemouth 2-2. That's potentially dropping 8 massive points when United are already 10 points behind 4th place! Realistically United now battle with other two United's in Newcastle and West Ham for the 6th spot and rule out Champions' League football. That will hurt the earnings given the already challenging situation with respect to Profitability and Sustainability Rules and impact the summer transfer activity.

Against Liverpool, Erik ten Hag got the substitutions right and he timed it well. He was always proactive and seemed to think of all options available to him. Yes Liverpool failed to capitalize on their dominance and score. Rashford missed chance after chance until the extra time for 3rd goal, Anthony having a torrid season saved his coach's blushes by scoring the vital equalizer after he came on as a sub to take the match into extra time. Eriksen made a rare appearance after being sidelined by the rise of Kobbie Mainoo. Andre Onana has finally settled in and earning his team points by his crucial saves. Have the team and coach started to believe in one another fully now?

United faced 31 shots against Brentford and 4 hit the bar with McTominay partnering Mainoo in midfield. Erik ten Hag rested Casemiro and introduced Licha Martinez too soon and got injured again, so did Lindelof after Maguire was brought on for Varane. Defensive nightmare. Mason Mount scored his first goal in injury time and team gave away the lead inside 3 minutes. United had 28 shots against Chelsea and lost the lead in stoppage time to concede two goals! Unpardonable. At half time United probably lost Raphael Varane forever with his later claim of concussion as he approaches final 3 months of his contract with United having averaged partly 19 games a season in 3 years. Evans substituting Varane also got injured and had to be subbed. Anthony had a decent game while Rashford was rested for this game.

It was time for Liverpool in the league and United's first half was atrocious to concede 15 shots with their best XI available to them. Credit to Willy Kambwala who displayed no nerves and gave a rousing audition. Kambwala, Mainoo and Garnacho the three teenagers to face the arch rivals. Second half was much better with two pieces of individual brilliance from Fernandes and Mainoo to give United the lead 2-1. Wan-Bissaka was harshly adjudged to give away a penalty. United did dent Liverpool's title hopes. Bournemouth hit United 20 times and took the lead twice but for Fernandes to score twice and deny the seasiders their first double over United. Fans were left to wonder how this team that battled Liverpool in second half can be so flat in the next game. Kambwala's slip is to be ignored but not the decision to not bring either Eriksen or Amrabat on to get more control in the game. Garnacho was tired and Amad was brought on at half time. United were simply battered black and blue by Iraola's side. 

Amrabat who had played for Erik ten Hag earlier surprisingly looks out of depth to play for United. His loan fee is not cheap. Licha Martinez is often injured and forces the hierarchy to get two new centre-backs instead of one. Anthony has not lived to the hype around his massive transfer fee and instead United should have got Victor Osimhen. Reluctance to change the shape of midfield given that both Mount and Eriksen are available to gain more control of games. Persistence with out of form Casemiro. Erik ten Hag will lead United against Coventry City in the FA Cup semifinal but his methods have not yielded a style of play that fans can relate to.

Instead, it's the same old counter attack and relying on moments of individual brilliance to scrape through when the opposition has completely dominated the game. Injuries especially to the back four, Ronaldo/Sancho/Greenwood situations, lack of football structure behind the coaching staff, change of ownership, promoting Garnacho/Mainoo/Kambwala all adds in his defense so does his first trophy the League Cup and second potential FA Cup final in two years. There is however Massimiliano Allegri who had always wanted to coach United and might be available in the summer. That is high profile candidature unlike Potter, Frank, O'Neil and his relaxed attitude might edge the players too. Decision time for INEOS. With the right structure behind him including recruitment, medicine, training etc being setup by Brailsford, Berrada, Ashworth, Wilcox et al the Dutchman might get one final shot to make things right. The on-field evidence has clearly not been convincing.