In a extremely difficult season for Manchester United, Thursday’s defeat to Chelsea was a nadir. Erik ten Hag’s team held a 3-2 lead heading into the 10th minute of stoppage time. However, that was a lead that collapsed in the space of just two minutes as Chelsea somehow pulled off a comeback.
This was a defeat that might ultimately cost Manchester United its place in next season’s Champions League. Tottenham Hotspur holds a nine-point advantage over the Old Trafford outfit in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top five places. With just eight matches left of the 2023/24 campaign, it could be too late for ten Hag’s team to bridge that gap.
Even more profound than the impact on the Premier League table, however, could be the impact on ten Hag’s future as Manchester United manager. The Dutchman is on trial after the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS as the club’s new minority owners and on the current evidence he is failing that trial.
It will be difficult for ten Hag to recover from Thursday’s catastrophic collapse at Stamford Bridge. He has so far failed to impose a clear style of play on Manchester United when this was one of the things the former Ajax boss was hired to do in the first place. There is no ideological framework in place at Old Trafford.
At this point, the case to keep ten Hag beyond the summer is based on the success he enjoyed last season, the acknowledgement of the chronic injuries Manchester United has suffered from recently, the lack of an obvious candidate to replace him and the idea that the Dutchman will achieve better results in a stronger structure and healthier environment.
INEOS is taking its time to assess ten Hag and there’s still a chance Manchester United will finish this season with silverware in-hand – Manchester United has been drawn against Coventry City in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The long term picture, however, isn’t so positive. In the grand scheme of things, ten Hag hasn’t done what he was appointed to do.
Graham Potter has been mentioned as a potential candidate to replace ten Hag this summer while recent reports stated English manager Gareth Southgate is on Manchester United’s radar. Gary O’Neill was another name linked with the Old Trafford job that isn’t yet vacant, but could be by the end of the season. Ten Hag might not recover from what unfolded against Chelsea.