The manner of Manchester United’s 6-3 defeat to Manchester City provoked fundamental questions about how Erik ten Hag will coach his side and which personnel can ultimately fit into his plans.
A loss to Pep Guardiola’s team should not necessarily define Ten Hag’s debut season in England, but the performance did provide a brutal reminder of the systemic gap that exists between red and blue in Manchester — underlining the scale of the task facing United’s manager, players and wider staff.
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Three days on from the Etihad wreckage, Ten Hag further explained his thinking about how to restore United to success, with Bruno Fernandes providing his view as a member of the leadership group. He addressed Cristiano Ronaldo’s status following 90 minutes spent on the bench. Here, The Athletic explains and analyses what was said.
Adaptation ahead?
Throughout his career as a coach, Ten Hag has produced teams intent on exerting control over games by dominating the ball and being proactive rather than reactive. He has yet to find that at United, with possessions lower against Leicester City, Liverpool, and Arsenal, but a midfield duo of Christian Eriksen and Scott McTominay has been picked with that ideal in mind at least. Eriksen, with his high technical ability, can progress the ball from deep.
But starting five attack-minded players on Sunday gave City the opportunity to outmanoeuvre United in the centre of the pitch. Guardiola’s team has better quality and an engrained style of playing. Would Ten Hag consider changing strategy when up against similar opposition in future, compromising his beliefs to get a result in a specific match?
He has tweaked his approach due to the players he has, allowing David de Gea to go long with his kicks rather than pass out. Or is playing a certain way, even in defeat, an essential part of the process?
“That’s what you always do, you take respect of the opponent but we still stick to our philosophy, our rules, our principles,” Ten Hag replied. “In tactics sometimes, to surprise opponents, you have to bring something different to your game, and we will do that in the future. But we can get a lot of confidence about this theory, when you beat Arsenal, you beat Liverpool. Now we get a reality check with Man City, we know we have to step up. So thank you for the lesson, Pep and City, we will take that, and we have to understand we have to do things much better.”
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The slight note of sarcasm around his gratitude was delivered warmly. Ten Hag worked under Guardiola at Bayern Munich and his gentle humour defused a little of the angst that has lingered since Sunday.
On a serious point, Ten Hag seemed open to adapting to certain opponents, but he would remain committed to his essential beliefs. “I know when you’re in a process it will not go only upside, you will have setbacks,” he added. “We had a bad day at the office. City was better, we have to accept that. But our performance was unacceptable.”
Casemiro conundrum
Six weeks after signing in a deal worth £70million ($79m), Casemiro has made one start. Had Ten Hag decided to go more defensive against City, the Brazil midfielder would have been the clear candidate to replace one of the offensive players, but he was on the bench for the fifth time in his short United career. His only start came against Real Sociedad, and United lost 1-0.
Ten Hag referenced results when asked about Casemiro, who he seems to regard as an alternative rather than an addition to McTominay. “It had nothing to do with Casemiro, and all to do with Scott. When you sum it up: Brentford he wasn’t in the team, we lose, on the day Casemiro signed we win (against Liverpool). We played six games, we won five and in those five games, Scott played. One he didn’t, against Sociedad. For me it’s logical. Scott developed really well.”
Still, it feels a curious situation for a player who in May was starting his fifth Champions League final triumph. Casemiro can provide an elite screen on the biggest occasions, even if he is yet to fully demonstrate this for United. He was second to Frenkie de Jong as Ten Hag’s preference in that position and comes with an entirely different profile. “I’m sure Casa will play a really important role,” Ten Hag insisted. “We know his background, all the titles he won, you see every day in training he can contribute in the team.”
“We have to construct a team because also we want a competitive culture in our team and this club.”
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McTominay has a streak of competitiveness. In rondos on Wednesday, he loudly disagreed with Steve McClaren about going in the middle after differently interpreting what had gone on in the drill. No such thing as a friendly kickabout.
Rule-breaking
Ten Hag said certain rules were broken by players against City. Distances between team-mates were not maintained correctly, decisions on the ball were lax, tracking back left a lot to be desired. Antony and Jadon Sancho did not help Diogo Dalot and Tyrell Malacia as much as they might have, for instance. Fernandes referenced the deficiencies of the team’s “rest field defence”, which Ten Hag calls the spatial arrangement of players guarding transitions.
“We conceded three goals on the counter against a team that normally plays in possession,” said Fernandes. “We knew when they don’t have the ball they have some players who stay up front, who want to have the ball straight away when they win it, and we could avoid that. We didn’t and they scored.”
It is reassuring to hear a United player speaking in specific tactical detail, even if the premise is relatively straightforward. The important thing is that the same errors do not happen again. “We had a meeting, we went to see the tough things, the mistakes that we did,” Fernandes said. “And now more than talk about the mistakes — don’t repeat, get back to the best results as we can.”
Sancho’s tracking back could have been better (Photo: Visionhaus/Getty Images)Belief bruised
Ten Hag thought belief was the biggest impediment to United’s players adhering to the rules of playing against City. Doubt about making a certain run, tracking an opponent, or trying a particular pass led to lapses, in Ten Hag’s eyes. Confidence has been brittle at United and Ten Hag referenced it after defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, but Fernandes insisted faith is building.
“We know we have been doing really well and we cannot just put everything away because of a result, we didn’t when we lost the first two games, and we shouldn’t now,” he said. “Everyone is aware of that. It is about getting back to the wins, belief in the process. It is a process, we will get time.”
Ronaldo respect
Would it have been insulting to Ronaldo had Ten Hag sent him on with United trailing so badly? “The game is lost, here’s a run out.”
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The way those who are seen as voices for Ronaldo in the media have reacted suggests he would have happily entered the pitch at 4-0, 5-1 or 6-1. He did warm up by sprinting up and down the touchline for passages of the second half. Ten Hag doubled down on his reasoning however and added a little context when pressed on why Ronaldo should be any different to Anthony Martial, who did go on as a substitute.
“You know why that is, when you’re honest, you know there is a difference,” Ten Hag pushed back. “You line up the strongest team you have, but there are differences, nobody is the same in the team. I will treat everyone with respect but they all have different backgrounds, with the character they’re different, I have to treat players different to get the best out of them, but there are general standards and values that count for everyone.”
Was Ten Hag thinking about the way Ronaldo reacted to being brought off under Ralf Rangnick? Or more recent experiences, when Ronaldo has resisted pressing drills in training? Ten Hag decided after the 4-0 loss away to Brentford that Ronaldo could be allowed to leave but United did not field any bids. Whether offers are made in January remains to be seen.
It will be a delicate dynamic. “He wants to play, he’s pissed off when he’s not playing. Clear,” Ten Hag said. “But he’s training well, he has a good mood, he’s motivated and he gives his best, that is what we expect.”
Ronaldo cut a fun figure in open training. Celebrating joyously when nutmegging Lisandro Martinez, even giving a trademark wink before being jumped on by Dalot.
(Top photo: John Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
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