Erik ten Hag had lost his grip at Manchester United

And with that, another era has come to an end at Manchester United. It ended with the same ambience as the ones before: a rumour here, a leak there, reports of a successor being tapped up.

The final act was similar in its colour, but different in shape. Unlike Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Jose Mourinho, who had faced humiliating losses in their final games in charge, ten Hag's last game was a 2-1 defeat at West Ham that really, for all purposes, should've been a victory. But it wasn't, and, after two seasons and a bit, neither ten Hag nor his sympathisers can point to this near-constant pattern of underperforming players as a simple personnel issue.

Erik ten Hag had lost his grip at Manchester United

Amongst the many things Manchester United's new sporting department would've bargained for when they flew down to Ibiza this summer, to offer Erik ten Hag a contract extension, sitting 14th on the Premier League table after nine games probably wasn't on their bingo card. For all the talk of poor luck with the referees, Manchester United have scored eight goals in nine league games this season. This, after another summer of heavy spending. At some point, the patience had to break.

How does one judge ten Hag? In the last few weeks, ten Hag himself has led the conversation on how to judge him. When the results haven't gone his way - which is disturbingly often - ten Hag points at his two trophies. And, however funny he sounds when he mentions the draws against Europa League opposition as some form of achievement, the cupboard isn't lying.

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The narrative, however, isn't as organic as United and their fans would've liked. Over a large enough sample size of games, Manchester United haven't been amongst the better teams in England. Erik ten Hag, and he would've known it all through his tenure that the team will be judged on how they are progressing with every phase, not from a couple of arbitrary games. He would also not need reminding that United escaped getting knocked out Coventry City in last season's FA Cup semi-final by inches.

That United have lost nine out of their last twenty-two league games, and are struggling to beat FC Twente at home, is a stronger reflection of the team's current state than anything Erik ten Hag could spin up at a press conference. The regression from his first season - finishing third and winning the Carabao Cup - is enough cause for concern.

When decisions about a manager's future are taken, the current state obviously gains major weightage. In his first season, ten Hag showed that he is a competent enough coach, but he was also unable to arrest the slide that started last season. A strong sporting department knows when to discard old report cards.

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The current marksheets were stained by United's inability to define a style. Even if ten Hag didn't necessarily want to attach himself to a label, twenty-seven months is enough for a manager to impress some basic principles amongst the playing squad. Truth be told, when Manchester United walked out against West Ham, no one outside the dressing room could tell whether United will play short and patient, or quick and direct. There is also no cohesion in their press - different players are often found responding to different triggers, opening up spaces. That lands squarely at the manager's doorstep.

United's next game is against Chelsea. Their new coach, Enzo Maresca, has already established a specific tempo and rhythm. You may find technical flaws in their young team, but you won't find chaos. Everyone knows what they're supposed to do. That is a basic necessity for an organised team, and it didn't look good on ten Hag that his team weren't there after all this time.

On most days, if not all, Manchester United look like an expensively collected lego pack but with bits and parts from different lego sets. Nothing fits, and there's no creation of anything substantial.

Everything eventually is filtered down from the results. Which, unfortunately, haven't been ten Hag's allies, no matter how far he stretches to justify them.

On paper, this team has all the makings of at least a decent unit. Managers will give an arm and a leg to start a Premier League game with a selection from Rasmus Hojlund, Joshua Zirkzee, Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho, Bruno Fernandes, Kobbie Mainoo, Manuel Ugarte, Christian Eriksen, Mathias de Ligt, and Lisandro Martinez. Forget their price tags for a second, this is a top-tier, Champions League-spot team.

If you cast a fishing net as wide as the last twelve months, how many of them have really flourished? Let me raise you one more - in the last many years, how many players have come to Manchester United and have truly become better footballers? Amongst the many other things wrong at Manchester United, the least spoken-about aspect may just be that it is a purgatory for good players.

There is absolutely no doubt that Erik ten Hag can't handhold a professional footballer to tap the ball into an open net from two yards out. But, when multiple professional footballers aren't able to cross a basic threshold of performance, on a weekly basis, the manager is answerable. It is, after all, his job to get the best out of his team

And that, unfortunately, was ten Hag's eventual undoing. In this Premier League season, Manchester United have missed 85% of their big chances. Finishing some of them might have brought ten Hag some more time. But United have also failed to cover for that by maintaining a strong defence. It is always a loud alarm when a team is poor in attack and defence.

United had that problem when ten Hag took over, and they haven't been able to solve it after two and a half seasons.

Erik ten Hag should be judged with fairness. His record - 70 out of 128 games - was healthy, if not good; he won two trophies; and cleaned a lot of the toxicity within the dressing room. But, as lasting memories go, they were not as charitable. The 2023-24 season was shambolic, and the start to the 2024-25 season has seen the performances dip even more.

His fiercest critics will tell you that Erik ten Hag is a good coach who tried his best. There is little doubt that there is a successful spell waiting for him. But, even his staunchest supporters will agree that ten Hag was at the end of the rope at Manchester United. This era was well past its end, and was running on borrowed time.

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