When Erik ten Hag walked into the Manchester United dressing room, he knew what he wanted to say. He was deeply annoyed by the decisions players made at key moments in the 4-3 defeat to Chelsea, feeling that these were the details that mattered the match.
That might be fair enough, if this wasn’t part of a much broader trend. Ultimately, far too many United matches under Ten Hag degenerated into chaos. Most seem to start that way, as was the case after just four minutes at Stamford Bridge. If the problem really is players not executing what Ten Hag wants, that’s probably more his problem than theirs, at least after two years. A fundamental part of the job is to make them understand literally. Instead, no one really seems to understand what Ten Hag’s system is. It’s hard to describe, let alone see.
The contrast with Sunday’s opposition is all too painfully clear. Although half of the players that Jurgen Klopp regularly takes out have been at Liverpool FC for as long or less than Ten Hag has been at United, they apparently understand the manager’s system. They understand exactly what he wants. It’s clearly not perfect yet, as so many freewheeling Liverpool games illustrate, but that’s where a big difference lies.
Klopp’s team is trying to manage the chaos. Ten Hag’s team is left to it.
The contrast with their last meeting, just four weeks ago in the FA Cup, makes this all too clear. It’s almost hard not to sympathize with the way many at United thought this could be a “turning point”.
Then, after a match that went the distance in similar fashion, Antony scored the equalizer in the 87th minute before Amad Diallo scored a winner in the 121st minute. The emotion of it all felt like it could be transformative and restorative.
Only, that’s the problem with looking for momentum in the modern era of football. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer became far too dependent on this. It may be movable, of course, but it is in no way sustainable. It is certainly not a replacement for a system that works.
So far from a turning point for the team, United instead experienced everything turning in the opposite direction. After scoring two late goals in their last game against Liverpool, they have conceded three late goals in the two games since.
That’s exactly what happens when you continually allow matches to develop in this way. The point of all this, however, is not to start another debate about Ten Hag’s performance as Manchester United manager. It’s really how all of this is relevant to much bigger decisions.
During the match against Chelsea, eyes were constantly on Sir Jim Ratcliffe in the director’s box. He was constantly on screen. This was not what he paid a minority stake for.
The widespread feeling in football is that United have already made the decision and that Ten Hag will leave in the summer. Even regardless of anything to do with performance, it would just be completely consistent with a “high performance” oriented setup that wants to promote a sense of a clean slate. It must be emphasized that there is a willingness to wait. They don’t want to let down someone who might do a good job. It is only the performances that have not strengthened his arguments in recent months.
However, there are two related reasons why no one can yet say with absolute certainty that Ten Hag will leave.
One of them is that they have not yet got their football structure in order. United would ideally have such decisions mediated by a chain of expertise running through eventual technical director Dan Ashworth and on to CEO Omar Berrada. With some of the top garden leave positions and other key positions yet to be filled, United still doesn’t have that clear structure. Ten Hag also works well with the people there personally.
The second is that there are no obvious substitutions – although this is admittedly less important. The manager market is in an interesting place right now because it is clearly going through a transition, some tactical, some workforce-driven.
There was about a decade where there was a clearly defined ‘elite’ band. They were Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, Antonio Conte, Thomas Tuchel, Carlo Ancelotti. A few others at the time had demonstrably just dropped out of that group or were about to ascend into it. Among them were Jose Mourinho on one side and Mauricio Pochettino on the other.
Now, due to these coaches dominating the top jobs and the financial stratification of the game, the next generation of managers have not had the opportunity to prove themselves at that elite level. It makes a series of potential appointments seem like little more than a point, no matter how talented they are. Being able to wear the suit of a big club is a punishing responsibility, one that many technically skilled coaches suffer from. In many cases it still comes down to personal charisma.
Amid this uncertainty, many different influential voices at United are liking different options. Sir Dave Brailsford is a big fan of Gareth Southgate. Ratcliffe himself has long been intrigued by Graham Potter. Others believe Julian Nagelsmann is worth trying out in a structure where he can only coach.
The situation is of course complicated by the fact that Liverpool will also be looking for a manager this summer, albeit in completely different circumstances. They absolutely don’t want their husband to go. However, Klopp has made it so that more of the most highly rated coaches prefer the Liverpool job.
That points to another contrast that is perhaps indicative of the clubs’ modern history, although Ratcliffe is trying to put something right.
When both clubs were put up for sale at the end of 2022, Liverpool ultimately had to come off the market, partly because the few viable suitors were more interested in United.
With both clubs potentially looking for managers, Anfield is a much more attractive destination. Ruben Amorim, who has become a number of major clubs’ highest-rated target since Xabi Alonso’s decision to stay at Bayer Leverkusen, is actively interested. The Portuguese currently prefers Liverpool to Barcelona, who focused on Amorim.
In any case, Old Trafford is currently more attractive than Camp Nou. However, Ratcliffe still has a lot of work to do to change the perceptions that persist following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
That points to another difference.
Klopp may be difficult to follow, but he leaves a much more forgiving situation. It’s not like Ferguson. The team has been replenished. The structure around the manager has already been renewed and set up.
Liverpool have arguably learned the lessons of United, but also their own history. They knew this was about much more than just replacing one man, especially when he is so totemic.
However, there is another curiosity from that history that this fixture addresses.
It’s yet another in a long line of United-Liverpool games where one team goes for the title and the other has to find satisfaction in trying to stop them. It’s remarkable how often this happened for England’s two most successful clubs.
This type of match is very much the default, rather than any form of all-or-nothing direct confrontation. The latter has actually almost never happened. Even in 2009, when Liverpool won 4-1 at Old Trafford, United only won the league.
The Merseyside club now returns to that stadium with a very different mentality. They have lost the last two at Old Trafford. Klopp won’t even bring this up with his players because he doesn’t think these kinds of things matter at all. However, it does matter to the fans, who suddenly get the feeling that something almost supernatural is happening when they go to see their biggest rivals. Liverpool supporters know they are much better than United at the moment, but that offers absolutely no guarantee that it will matter on the day.
All you had to do was watch the FA Cup match.
At times like this, people usually talk about how important it is for Ten Hag, especially when it concerns his future. Although that may not be the case at all. That FA Cup match might have proven that.
While no one can say with certainty what decision INEOS will ultimately make, they will not base it on any individual game, no matter how chaotic.