Manchester City rattled Old Trafford with a convincing 3-0 victory over a Manchester United in crisis. Former Red Devils captain Roy Keane said that Man Utd “lacks in every aspect – technically, tactically and, worryingly, even physically”. Meanwhile, Gary Neville launched a fresh attack on the Glazers’ owners.
Erik ten Hag is currently under increasing pressure to turn things around or could face being fired. He is entering his second season and has spent £390 million on players. With Man Utd finishing eighth in the Premier League and in danger of being eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage, many fans will question whether Ten Hag can really improve the club.
Ten Hag’s Man Utd is in trouble.
Therefore, SunSport came up with numbers to compare the Dutch coach with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. The club legend was in charge for three years before he was replaced by interim manager Ralf Rangnick in November 2021.
So far, Ten Hag has spent 48 matches leading Man Utd in the Premier League. Ten Hag’s team won 90 points, while Solsa led by Man Utd only accumulated 88 points with as many matches. Ten Hag has 28 wins, 3 matches more than Solsa’s record of 3 points. However, the former Ajax captain lost more with 14 compared to his predecessor’s 10. The number of draws under the former Ajax coach was also much less, 6 compared to Ole’s 13.
In the scoring category, Ten Hag’s Man Utd reached 69 and received 59 goals. Meanwhile, Solsa reached 89 goals and conceded 60 times. Under the Norwegian coach, Bruno scored more goals than when playing under Ten Hag. Statistics show that the old attack based on Anthony Martial, Mason Greenwood, Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba is also more evenly distributed.
As for Ten Hag, the addition of Christian Eriksen, Mason Mount, Antony, Rasmus Hojlund or Wout Weghorst last season resulted in fewer and fewer goals. Overall, the Red Devils created more chances with Ten Hag but struggled to convert. They made 744 shots under the guidance of the former Ajax captain compared to 676 shots by Man Utd under Solskjaer. However, Ten Hag’s Red Devils scored less than 20 goals.
Solsa’s Man Utd has more points and losses compared to the Red Devils under Ten Hag.
The other big difference between the two coaches comes from the tackling style with the pressing style that Ten Hag wants. Man Utd under Ten Hag made 818 tackles compared to 674 under the Norwegian coach. Another notable thing is that Ten Hag won the Carabao Cup last season after the Red Devils went empty-handed for three years under his predecessor.
But nothing sums up the club’s astonishing decline better than the fact that Man Utd have lost many home games since Sir Alex Ferguson retired. Ferguson only lost 34 times in 405 matches at Old Trafford. After he was no longer coach, Man Utd experienced 196 more matches at home but received a total of 34 losses.
Lu Phong | 23:05 October 30, 2023
