Faltering in attack, open at the back – Erik ten Hag gets the sack

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Sunday’s Premier League loss at West Ham proved one defeat too many for embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday.

The Red Devils are now seeking their sixth permanent boss since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag all failing to return the glory days to Old Trafford.

Ten Hag led United to the EFL Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup earlier this year, making him their second-most successful boss of the post-Ferguson era after Mourinho, who won the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield.

However, a dismal eighth-placed Premier League finish in 2023-24 has been followed by a dreadful start to 2024-25, prompting the INEOS regime to take action.

Here, we delve into the Opta data to pinpoint where it went wrong for Ten Hag at United.

Club statement: Erik ten Hag.#MUFC

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) October 28, 2024

No defence for United rearguard

When Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford in 2022, having led an exuberant Ajax side to a Champions League semi-final and three Eredivisie crowns, hopes were high that he would bring a modern, possession-based style to a United side characterised by chaos for so long.

However, that dream failed to materialise. Throughout Ten Hag’s time in the dugout, United were consistently among the Premier League’s worst defensive outfits.

Since his first Premier League match in charge in August 2022, United have registered a total xG against (xGA) figure of 136.

While they only conceded 112 goals under him, their xGA was the fifth-worst of any ever-present Premier League side in that time, better than only Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Wolves.

Meanwhile, United faced 1,253 shots in the Premier League under Ten Hag – only four teams (Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham) have faced more shots in the competition since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.

The £70million arrival of midfield enforcer Casemiro failed to solve United’s defensive issues, and a failure to control games was a key theme of Ten Hag’s tenure. Only Brighton (17) and Everton (16) conceded more Premier League goals from fast breaks than United (13) during the Dutchman’s reign, and only three teams gave up more shots from such scenarios (61).

Attackers go missing

In the early weeks of 2024-25, however, a failure to take their chances at the other end has primarily cost United.

Only Crystal Palace and Southampton (six each) have scored fewer Premier League goals than United (eight) this season. They have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the competition this term (-6.56 – eight goals, 14.56 xG).

They were guilty of spurning several clear-cut chances at the London Stadium last time out, and seven of Ten Hag’s 27 Premier League defeats came via a 90th-minute winner, the highest percentage of defeats to last-minute goals of any manager to lose 20 or more games in Premier League history.

With 42 goals, Marcus Rashford was United’s leading scorer in all competitions under Ten Hag.

Thirty of his strikes came in Ten Hag’s debut campaign, though, and he has only netted once in nine league outings this term.

Bruno Fernandes, who Ten Hag installed as captain, has created the most chances for United since the start of 2022-23 with 364. Christian Eriksen (131), Diogo Dalot (116) and Rashford (115) were the other three players to set up at least 100 chances for team-mates under the former Ajax boss.

However, Fernandes – who scored 29 goals under Ten Hag and laid on 31 assists – has struggled for form this campaign, with his 2.48 xG the highest figure of any player yet to net in the Premier League.

The highs and lows

Ten Hag’s tenure brought a few obvious highs, with the 2023 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United ending a near-six-year trophy drought and May’s FA Cup showpiece victory over Manchester City denying United’s neighbours a domestic double.

That was one of two victories over City under Ten Hag, though they lost more games to Pep Guardiola’s men (four) than any other team during his reign.

Most damagingly, Ten Hag’s United were blown away in several big games, shipping 17 goals versus City and 16 against Liverpool. Of course, they were trounced 7-0 by the Reds at Anfield in March 2023 – the joint-heaviest competitive defeat in the Red Devils’ history.

Ten Hag’s reign ends after 128 games, with his 70 victories giving him the second-best win ratio (54.7%) of any United boss post-Ferguson in all competitions, after Mourinho (58.7%).

His record of 1.72 points per Premier League game, though, only bettered the figures managed by Moyes (1.68) and Ralf Rangnick (1.72) in that span.

Only Rangnick (0), meanwhile, has overseen a worse goal difference in the Premier League than Ten Hag (+11), among United bosses to manage at least five games.

And only Moyes (32.4%, 11/34) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United boss than Ten Hag (31.8%, 27/85).

In the overall Premier League standings since Ten Hag took charge, they sit fifth with 146 points, some 57 adrift of first-placed Man City and also fewer than Arsenal (191), Liverpool (171) and Aston Villa (147).