by The damning statistics continue to pile up for Erik ten Hag. The last time Manchester United started a season so poorly they were relegated, but the latest abject defeat to West Ham sent the 19-time English champions to new levels of despair they had not reached in almost a century (and in some respects even further).
He failed to score in the last four games for the first time in 31 years
Since November 1992, under Sir Alex Ferguson, United had not gone four games in a row in all competitions without finding the back of the net. It’s been more than six hours since Ten Hag’s side scored, the 2-1 win over Chelsea now distant in memory after the goalless draw with Liverpool that preceded heartbreaking defeats to Bournemouth and Bayern from Munich, before this monotonous performance.
Most defeats before Christmas since 1930/31
United’s abject capitulation to West Ham was their 13th defeat in all competitions this season, which is their highest pre-Christmas total since 1930/31.
The good news for Ten Hag is that the two games left to play in 2023 are not enough to eclipse that 93-year-old record of 16 losses, but the bad news is that the last time they suffered 13 losses before the New Year, United finished last and were relegated.
He conceded more goals this season than Mourinho’s entire second campaign
The two goals conceded at the London Stadium mean that United have already conceded more goals so far this season than in the entire 2017/18 under José Mourinho.
Mourinho was ridiculed for his negative tactics and lack of ambition, but throughout his second season in charge of United, United conceded 40 goals in 56 games.
This season, United have been ridiculed for their lack of attacking productivity (more on that shortly), but they have already conceded 41 goals in just 26 games.
More defeats this season than in the entire last season
Another particularly damning statistic for Ten Hag that seems to show his team spiraling into regression. In their 62 games last season, United lost 12 times in all competitions.
The Dutch team already surpassed that number after the defeat on Saturday afternoon.
Lost more Premier League home games since Ferguson retired than during his entire tenure in charge
The statistic that sums up United’s shocking decline since Ferguson left the bench, which was recorded earlier this month.
The humiliating 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth marked United’s 35th defeat at Old Trafford combined with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick and Ten Hag, one more than Ferguson suffered at the Theater of Dreams in his 21 seasons in charge.
Bayern reached 36 last week, and I wouldn’t overlook this United reaching 37 before the end of the year with the visit of Aston Villa scheduled for Boxing Day.
United’s zero goals from their two key forwards
Now to the toothless attack. To add to the flurry of statistics overwhelming Ten Hag after this defeat, Rasmus Hojlund has not scored in 14 Premier League appearances since arriving from Ajax in the summer, while his teammate Antony has not registered a goal or assist in 19 league appearances all season.
As miserable as the hierarchy at United is, this is one area of the team where Ten Hag cannot escape blame. Hojlund and Antony were his purchases. He wanted them. Interestingly, even when he pressured his employers to spend almost £90m to lure Antony away from his former club Ajax, Mohammed Kudus was also there. West Ham paid around a third of Antony’s fee for him and he has barely failed to score since arriving in east London, taking his goal here with the kind of aplomb his fellow Ajax alumnus has failed to show for almost 18 years. months in the red United shirt. .
The death of Fergie Hora: 11 defeats after going behind
Once Jarrod Bowen opened the scoring, away fans began to leave en masse. Because they knew from the moment he did it that everything was over for them, that staying would only prolong the misery. They knew that this group of players whom they spend their hard-earned income following all over the country do not have the determination or confidence or, worse yet, the diligence to fight back. So they might as well go home. There was nothing they could see here. Well, apart from Kudus adding insult to injury.
And how that certainty of defeat must hurt. Because this used to be the club that was defined by reaction, by a collective allergy to the very idea of giving up. After all, this was the operation that led commentator Clive Tyldesley to insist that they “always score”, even when they were trailing in the Champions League final well into added time.
That, however, is from the last century. Belief in the escapological possibilities of Fergie Time is a concept that has long since disappeared at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag even admitted that when the opponent scores first, his team is doomed.
“It’s the meaning of the first goal,” he said, when asked what happened to United’s history of stubborn refusal to give in. “We have to score the goal.”
So it was that in the London stadium, once the coach’s only tactical plan was disrupted (escaping with a goalless draw), there was nothing left there. After all, defending is not easy when you have defenders who are told to pass to the side and then return to the goalkeeper, when you have midfielders who cannot retain possession and, most telling of all, forwards to whom the very idea Putting the ball in the net is anathema.
Indeed, Ten Hag’s obsession with scoring first (he mentioned that need four times in his post-match press conference) has worked for him at Everton, Fulham and Burnley. There United took the lead and, although often fortuitously, held on. But when they have fallen behind, as against Manchester City, Newcastle, Bournemouth and 10 other occasions this season, their players almost seem to recognize that the game is over. Heads hang, morale disappears, panic spreads.
You could insist that players can recover after first conceding. But only twice this season (against Nottingham Forest and Brentford) have they managed it. Statistically, that’s probably the one that speaks loudest about the mess Ten Hag and his goal-shy leaders are in.
