Manchester United enter Erik’s Last Stand ahead of inevitable summer of change
Rivals Man City await in Saturday’s FA Cup final in what could be Erik ten Hag’s last game as United boss
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Your support makes all the difference.A game that could have completed Jurgen Klopp’s last dance may instead prove Erik ten Hag’s last chance. The FA Cup final long promised an end-point for the manager of one of England’s two biggest clubs. But it is Manchester United who face Manchester City at Wembley; eliminating Liverpool in a seminal quarter-final is one reason why there is a repeat of the 2023 final, why Ineos’ verdict on Ten Hag has been postponed, why United’s season could go down as a complete failure or a troubled year that ends on a high.
“Every season you review it and then we will see where we are in the project and the things that we have to change,” said Ten Hag. For many, the question of change revolves around the dugout.
It’s been a week in which Mauricio Pochettino emerged as a potential successor, following his dismissal by Chelsea, and where interest from Stamford Bridge in Kieran McKenna may add another dimension to United’s potential hunt. The spectres of Graham Potter and Gareth Southgate, who both have their admirers among the new United hierarchy, have loomed large for months. But Ten Hag has ignored them.
If nothing else, the Dutchman is good at message discipline. “I am just focusing on this game as I do on every game,” he said, shrugging off talk that, like Louis van Gaal, he could bid farewell to United in an FA Cup final, even if it is won. Yet there are times when his chosen messages seem retrofitted.
“It’s all about trophies,” he said. “In the last 10 years, not so many trophies in this club so it is an opportunity to win two in two years.” All of which may have made a convenient argument after United’s worst league campaign for 34 years, with their lowest finish, most defeats and most goals conceded. When United allowed their opponents a host of shots, Ten Hag developed the line of reasoning that it did not matter if they have huge numbers of chances providing they were low-quality opportunities.
United’s FA Cup campaign has suggested it both does and doesn’t matter. It is rare to reach the final after conceding eight times; still rarer when their opponents have included sides from League Two, League One, the Championship and the lower half of the Premier League. Ten Hag had branded coverage of the semi-final win over Coventry “embarrassing” and “a disgrace”. United had taken a 3-0 lead, been pegged back to 3-3 and eventually prevailed on penalties. In the fourth round, they went 2-0 up at fourth-tier Newport County, found themselves drawing 2-2, and recovered to win 4-2.
But the pivotal game on the route to the final was against Liverpool. It contained many of the themes of United’s season – vast numbers of shots, late goals, youthful talent – but with the successful outcome the campaign has so far lacked. It is, ridiculously, one of five United games to have finished 4-3 this season – won two, lost three – and those matches have featured 13 goals scored in or after the 85th minute. And if the epic against Liverpool went to extra time, the 121st-minute winner came from Amad Diallo, who was promptly sent off for his celebration.
Ten Hag’s case is that there is a cause for encouragement that is camouflaged by too many bad results, which in turn were caused by a surfeit of injuries. “Underneath there are very good things, players coming up and players developing, values coming up and at the same time we have on Saturday a big opportunity to win the next trophy,” he said.
Those young players – Amad, Kobbie Mainoo, Rasmus Hojlund and Alejandro Garnacho, who assisted the winner against Liverpool – are deployed to support Ten Hag’s view that he is the man for the future.
Yet in most other respects, United have regressed since they faced City in last season’s FA Cup final. Then, they conceded after 13 seconds and lost to their local rivals. Ten Hag likes to cite how United have reached three cup finals in his reign – and they had only reached three domestic finals in the 12 seasons before his appointment – but losing two to City would leave a different impression.
Ten Hag has lost four of his five matches against City. He attributed March’s 3-1 defeat to a lack of strength in depth. “We didn’t have a bench,” he said. “On Saturday, we will have a bench.” Only Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia are certain to miss out.
It will be a last United game for Raphael Varane and, should he feature, Anthony Martial, probably for Sofyan Amrabat and Jonny Evans, potentially for many others. It might be the endgame for Ten Hag, too. But if he fears it will be, he is not betraying it.
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