Failure to take responsibility makes Erik Ten Hag responsible

Erik Ten Hag is flopping at Manchester United and as the days go by, the world is becoming convinced that the Dutchman may really lack what is needed to succeed at the highest level.

In the tumultuous world of football management, every decision, every tactic, and every result is scrutinized under a relentless microscope, because the detail of every department affects others, and translates into infield results.

Manchester United’s struggles are not recent, they have been here since years back, and these are many of the reasons why the club failed to maintain consistency, when at some point they’ve been able to look competitive.

Just like his predecessors, Erik Ten Hag has been his Manchester United side play like a top team, but recent mishaps have sparked a flurry of speculation and analysis, with much of the blame falling on the shoulders of Dutch manager.

Given his impressive track record at Ajax, where he orchestrated a dazzling resurgence of the club both domestically and in Europe, more was expected of Erik Ten Hag at the Theather of Dreams, but his tenure, so far has been marred by inconsistency and underachievement.

While it’s easy to pinpoint individual moments of brilliance or failure on the pitch, the true measure of a manager’s effectiveness lies in their ability to take responsibility for the team’s performance as a whole.

Unfortunately, Ten Hag’s reluctance to fully embrace accountability has only exacerbated the mounting pressure on him and his players.

Cristiano Ronaldo was too proud, Jadon Sancho was too disrespectful and even Antony is arrogant. In the same vein, what should be said of a manager who continues to have issues with almost all of his players ?

Manchester United players who have fallen out with Erik Ten Hag

It does not necessarily mean a manager is at fault whenever they have issues with their players, because everyone wants to play, but the manager can only field eleven at a go.

Moreove, iit is the duty of the manager to select the best he feels can deliver the needed result at every point in time, because the consequences of every failure is down to him.

However, Erik Ten Hag has not masterminded the ways to act or respond to these frequent issues that occur in man management, a malady which has even overwhelmed his tactical frailties in recent times.

Players who have fallen out with Erik Ten Hag

Raphael Varane

After being omitted from the starting eleven in their 3-0 loss to Manchester City in October, Raphaël Varane was angry at Erik ten Hag for the comments made regarding how Evans and Maguire were picked ahead of him for the “biggest game of the season”

Varane informed the former football director John Murtough that he would not he available for the trip to Newcastle United.

Erik Ten Hag got the information from Murtough and during the pre match conference, he said the player is “ill.”

Anthony Martial

During a 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United in the Premier League in December, where Manchester United was completely overwhelmed by their host, Erik Ten Hag had a heated moment with the Frenchman.

The United boss blamed the striker for not tracking back enough during the game. Although the 54-year-old deflected the issue from Martial when asked about it at full-time.

“It’s not about Anthony Martial; it’s about the team. I try to energise the team and try to get a reaction from the team in this moment. As you see, we had a tough period and when you’re coaching, you are a little more aggressive, so that’s normal.”

Zidane Iqball

An highly rated youngster from the club’s Academy, Zidane Iqball already made his senior debut before the appointment of Erik Ten Hag. Unfortunately, he would not feature under the Dutchman.

During the early days of Erik Ten Hag at the club, he reportedly yelled at the Iraqi midfielder, “Keep the ball on the floor! Zidane! Hey! Keep the ball on the floor, F*cking rubbish!”

In his first season, Iqball never made a single appearance for Manchester United before being shipped out to FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie during the summer of 2023.

Jadon Sancho

Although the Englishman did not justify the huge investment that brought him to Old Trafford in the summer of 2021, things turned sour for him at the club when he was dropped for the trip to Arsenal in September, 2023.

When asked about leaving Sancho out of the squad in his post match interview, Erik Ten Hag responded; “Jadon, on his performances in training we did not select him,”

“You have to reach a level every day at Manchester United and we can make choices in the front line. So for this game he was not selected.”

In response to the manager’s comments, Sancho took to social media and wrote: “Please don’t believe everything you read! I will not allow people saying things that is (sick) completely untrue, I have conducted myself in training very well this week.

“I believe there are other reasons for this matter that I won’t go into, l’ve been a scapegoat for a long time which isn’t fair! “All I want to do is play football with a smile on my face and contribute to my team.

“I respect all decisions that are made by the coaching staff, I play with fantastic players and (am) grateful to do so which I know every week is a challenge. I will continue to fight for this badge no matter what!”

In the aftermath of it all, the former Borussia Dortmund attacker was banished from the squad after his reluctance to apologize and during the winter transfer window, he rejoined Dortmund on loan for the rest of the season.

Sancho is now rejuvenating his career, helping Dortmund reach the UEFA Champions League final for the first time since eleven years ago in 2013.

Cristiano Ronaldo

“I don’t have respect for him because he doesn’t show respect for me,” Cristiano Ronaldo said of Erik Ten Hag during his famous interview with Piers Morgan on TalkTV in 2023.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who had been dropped on the bench for games before the interview continued; “Some people, they don’t want me here – not only the coach but the other two or three guys. Not only this year, but last year too.

“Honestly, I shouldn’t say that. But listen, I don’t care. People should listen to the truth. Yes, I feel betrayed.”

Ronaldo was one of Manchester United’s top performer in the final season before the arrival of Ten Hag, scoring 24 goals in 38 games across all competitions, including six crucial ones in the UEFA Champions League group stage.

He left the club in January and moved to Al Nassr in Saudi Pro League, where he now has 75 goal involvements in 61 games across all competitive competitions.

Alejandro Garnacho also liked a social media post criticizing the manager of the poor treatment of him, which highlighted his constant substitution in games, and the blame for his performance in the draw away to Bournemouth.

Although the issue has reportedly been dealt with at the club, but the fact that it happened is a concern.

Whether it’s deflecting criticism onto external factors or failing to address glaring tactical deficiencies, Erik Ten Hag’s management style has left many supporters questioning his suitability for one of the most demanding jobs in world football.

For fans of the club, Manchester United is the biggest club in the country and keeping up the standard set by their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson is always going to be tedious. None of the coaches after him has come close.

In the wake of successive defeats and a palpable sense of unrest among the fanbase, the spotlight is firmly fixed on Ten Hag and how he appears to have no clue of what is happening around him.

Manchester United was much better than this last season and improvement was expected, even after they spent to satisfy the manager in the window, but he continues to shy away from the weight of expectation, allowing the crisis to deepen.

As long as the former Ajax boss continues to pass the blame of his side’s failure to individuals and not take full responsibility, the tougher his job becomes, and longer it takes for him to get it right.

He might have had it easy at Ajax but the demands at Manchester United is different because of the level of players at each club. Big clubs with players of big egos, which is why man management is a quality needed to thrive at big clubs.

But this is on the manager’s part and only time will tell whether Erik Ten Hag can navigate his way through the turbulent waters, swallow his pride and lead Manchester United back to glory.

Failure down to the club’s hierarchy

Jose Mourinho admitted there are certain players at Manchester United, whom he did not want at the club. Unfortunately, it was the Portuguese manager who had to make way.

Players Jose wanted out at Manchester United

Anthnoy Martial was high on the list. The Frenchman joined the club in the summer of 2015 with a lot of expectation, so much that a Ballon D’or clause was included in the deal that brought him from AS Monaco.

Unfortunately, he has not lived up to the hype and is expected to leave the club as a free agent in the summer.

Mourinho, during his his two-and-a-half year stint at the club between May 2016 and December 2018 was keen on moving on the Frenchman, who had been very inconsistence in performances and is injury prone, and bring in Ivan Perisic as a replacement in the summer of 2017 and even in 2018.

The Portuguese wanted him out because he considers him ‘mentally weak’ and having a tendency to sulk. In the end, the club opposed the decision and Martial remained at the club.

Luke Shaw, Marcus Rashford and and a few others were also on the list of the mass exodus planned by Jose Mourinho at the time.

All of these players remain at the club today, and while it is undeniable that most are not at Manchester United level, those that are have not been consistent, too.

Marcus Rashford is one of the biggest earners in Europe and only once in his nine seasons has he registered double digists for goals and assists for the club.

Five in those seasons, the mancunian has failed to reach double figures of league goals. His best goal return in a league season stands at 17, achieved in 2019-20 and 2022-23.

Even though he is fans’ favourite, looking back, it won’t be the worst thing to have happened to Manchester United, should Jose Mourinho has had his way years ago.

Every season and same old story. The good news for the club’s faithful is that the INEOS have a template of the club’s troubles, and can understand where to kickstart the rebuild.

It is believed that they retain trust in Erik Ten Hag but with his personal frailties, a big question is to be answered as to how a big club will navigate its way out of a mess it is in, when the leader is not ready to take responsibility for any of their shortcomings.

In the wake of the home defeat to Arsenal, Newcastle United and Brighton await in the league before the Emirates FA Cup final with Manchester City later in the month.

Hassan Afolabi