Erik ten Hag had a great reputation when he arrived from Ajax, but he was swallowed up in a whirlpool at Old Trafford. Photo: Alamy Stock Photo/Mark Payne
It's been less than two years since Casemiro, at the zenith of his development as arguably the best defensive midfielder in the world, produced a masterclass to stifle Liverpool and win his fifth Champions League title with Real Madrid. Today, caught up in the Manchester United maelstrom, he has become a slightly pathetic figure, and his occasional loss of possession en route to Crystal Palace's fourth goal this week suggests a player without heart or fight.
< p>Single case? Not at all. Just 11 months ago, Andre Onana was celebrated by Inter Milan for his role in the sixth European Cup final in their history. Now he, too, appears ravaged by United's insidious affliction: the once confident goalkeeper was twice beaten at his near post during the capitulation at Selhurst Park. No matter where their recruits come from, this club finds a way to make them worse. Look no further than Erik ten Hag, the man hailed as a decisive leader in 2022, the three-time Dutch champion surveying the wreckage of United with growing impotence, seemingly desperate for Sir Jim Ratcliffe to rid him of suffering.
All this time you hear the same spell from the stars of yesteryear. “This is Manchester United,” Gary Neville laments humorously. He and his Class of 1992 colleagues are understandably outraged at how low standards have fallen. “The final nail in the coffin,” says Paul Scholes of the match against Palace. Even Michael Owen, no natural polemicist, is demanding that Ten Hag be sacked and replaced by Steve McClaren, his former mentor under Sir Alex Ferguson. The Ferguson era is remembered so often that one begins to wonder whether these former players, like the club whose demise they lament, are living in the past.
This is not the shrewd organization that paid £1.2 million to win Leeds' Eric Cantona prize. This is the place that is committed to paying discarded Casemiro £350,000 a week until he turns 34, while spending £85m on Anthony, whose most memorable contribution this season has been ridiculing the Coventry City team that stand together less than his Transfer Fee. This is also not the club that turned Old Trafford into the Theater of Dreams. Their facilities have become a symbol of deep disrepair: the stadium serves raw chicken to corporate guests, and the training ground is in such a state that Ratcliffe sent an email to all employees expressing his disgust.
All in all, a real prospectus that United can send out to the world. Ratcliffe spoke of each key role at the club being filled with “best-in-class figures, 10 out of 10”. But the corporate rhetoric doesn't match the harsh reality of United's predicament. On what basis can they hope to lure Thomas Tuchel, the favorite to succeed Ten Hag this summer? Tuchel is a Champions League winner who could yet repeat that feat during his short reign at Bayern Munich. United are currently struggling to offer him any European football next season. Their lowest tally since Ferguson was 58 in 2021/22, the end of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's reign. This record may be in jeopardy.
The leading candidates to replace Ten Hag – Tuchel, Gareth Southgate, Graham Potter, Roberto de Zerbi, Ruben Amorim – have enviable reputations. But they could all be forgiven for wondering if they were set up to fail. It's not just that United, having sunk so far, are now sinking into the depths of the Mariana Trench with a club-record 13 league defeats in a single campaign. The fact is that so many retired players, from Neville and Roy Keane in the Sky series to Owen and Scholes in Premier League Productions, are using their TV soapboxes to stir things up and highlight the slump.
Any new Manchester United manager will have to deal with the judgment of Gary Neville and other former players now working in the media. Photo: Pennsylvania/Bradley Collyer
Nothing encapsulates United's efforts to escape the shadow of their former glories quite like Solskjaer's admission in 2019 that he refused to use Ferguson's parking space at Carrington. It seemed that Ferguson, now long retired, continued to act as judge and jury for all who were appointed after him. It's a similar environment for players. Every time they perform poorly they know they will be the subject of harsh assessments from Keane, who was so outraged by the FA Cup semi-final against Coventry – a game United won – that he said he didn't like his own team .
The commentary circles are dominated by United alumni. If it's not Owen calling for Ten Hag's premature departure, it's Neville who says it's the manager's behavior at the press conference that makes his heart skip a beat. And if it's not Keane criticizing United's defensive shortcomings, it's Rio Ferdinand shouting on social media that he's watching them from his sofa.
All their complaints may be justified, but the barbs threaten to create a toxic atmosphere for any potential manager. Any mistake will be met with a serious shake of the head and the death-defying words: “This is Manchester United.”
But if the club wants to learn anything from its recent disastrous failures, it will be that these sentiments are part of the problem. The sad truth is that United can no longer trade on their name alone.
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