Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag reportedly called a meeting very early on Monday morning to get some crucial points across to his players at the club’s Carrington training complex.
Following the 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham, Ten Hag was clearly keen to have words with his players and clarify some important details about both his tactics and the players’ mentality following such a worrying display at Old Trafford on Sunday.
The Red Devils were comfortably beaten by Spurs and that’s just not good enough for a club looking to get back to competing for major honours once again, particularly with Ten Hag now into his third season after a lot of investment in getting in the players he wanted in the transfer market.
The Dutch tactician seems safe in his job for now, according to Fabrizio Romano as he discussed the situation on his YouTube channel, but the Italian journalist also explained how there was an important meeting very early on Monday morning in response to the latest defeat…
“Erik ten Hag arrived at Carrington really early in the morning … wanted to talk to the team, wanted to talk to the players, wanted to clarify his ideas, wanted to analyse the game against Tottenham,” Romano said.
“There are some situations he wanted to clarify – tactical, but also motivational. This is what was crucial for Ten Hag today.”
Ten Hag to blame, or is it the Man United players?
People will have their own views on the United situation, as some will no doubt feel Ten Hag hasn’t done enough since taking over, while others will point to similar struggles faced by previous MUFC managers.
Big names like Jose Mourinho and Louis van Gaal also couldn’t get more out of their United teams, while club legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also ended up struggling a lot despite making a very positive start.
The post-Sir Alex Ferguson era has been hugely challenging for United, and it might be worth giving Ten Hag a bit more time, but there’s no doubt that he’s not doing himself any favours at the moment with so many continued poor displays and an apparent struggle to either motivate his players or get his ideas across, or both.
Good move. He should listen to his players as they are the tools to implement his football philosophy in the field of play. In addition, if the 4-2-3-1 is not functioning, we should try 4-3-3 and see how it’s gonna work out. The performances calls for an urgent change for improvement in fortune for the betterment of the team.