Ten Hag’s formula embraces chaos
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âWe have to keep the ball longer, otherwise we are coming into a tennis match. When we want to watch a tennis match, we go to Wimbledon.â
Those were Erik ten Hagâs words in March when asked if he still intended to turn Manchester United into the best transition team in the world. Since then his side have travelled to Brentford and Chelsea and have been leading in the 96th minute â but failed to win both games. Across the two matches, United have conceded 59 shots, 15 of them on target.
Watching United in the early spring feels like watching a tennis match, as your head is forced to turn left and right at a frantic pace. It would be hard to place this 4-3 defeat to Chelsea on Wimbledonâs Centre Court, such was its catalogue of individual errors and poor game management. If United were a tennis player, they would be suffering from a bad case of âbraccino cortoâ â a sensation where you get greedy around match point and your arm begins to shrink and foolish mistakes creep in.
âI said to the players, we have to make better decisions, itâs our strength, you saw again how we score from counters â we can be such a massive threat,â said Ten Hag after the chaotic end to the match at Stamford Bridge.
âAnd we have seen an example with tempo, how we can beat our opponents, where we are unstoppable but we have to read when to keep the ball, especially when winning.â
It took time for United to find their footing at Stamford Bridge, with Conor Gallagher and Cole Palmer leaving Ten Hagâs men having to overcome a 2-0 deficit within 19 minutes.
Ten Hag was animated as the game slippedâŠagain (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
Some teams would wilt but United rallied. The dogged running of Alejandro Garnacho got a goal back in the 34th minute, before the young Argentine combined with Antony and Diogo Dalot for Bruno Fernandes to head in an equaliser in the 39th.
The rest of the half transformed into an entertaining melee, where both sides looked to commit bodies forward, leaving their young defensive midfielders with too much space to cover, and Gallagher hit a post from another counter. It was a moment where you could see why Ten Hag appears unconcerned about how the high number of shots opponents are having. Yes, United concede a lot of space in midfield, and yes United do the majority of their defending in and around their box, but all teams miss more shots than they convert.
If United can hold their nerve in the difficult defensive moments and stay calm in their important attacking ones, they should win more games than they lose. When Garnacho connected with a superb âtrivelaâ (outside-of-the-boot) cross from Antony to head in Unitedâs third goal in the 67th minute, away fans celebrated in equal parts elation and disbelief.
Garnacho scores his second to give United an unlikely lead (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
They had again lost players to injury (Raphael Varane had to be substituted at half-time for Jonny Evans, only for Evans to have to be replaced by Willy Kambwala), but looked to have found a way to win. The chaos is a feature, not a bug to Ten Hagâs formula. Not all works of footballing art have to resemble a Rembrandt. There is space in the game for a Jackson Pollock.
However, it comes with drawbacks. It requires a level of physical and mental conditioning that appears beyond several players in the squad.
United play a high-tempo, high-intensity game only for players to trip and fall flat onto their faces at key junctures. There was an illuminating moment in the first half where Nicolas Jackson sprinted past Casemiro while the Brazil midfielder struggled to find a higher gear.
A 4-3 thriller at Stamford BridgeâŠ
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The 32-year-old, who has only just returned from a muscle injury, looked hesitant to trust his body to sprint at the required pace to prevent a counter-attack. He was substituted for Scott McTominay in the 75th minute to freshen up the midfield and doubled down on the transition-based mayhem. It worked until stoppage time.
When Dalot felled Noni Madueke in the area, he put his head into his hands and looked to Harry Maguire to apologise. It was the 97th minute in an exhausting game and he was trying his best to recover after the Chelsea winger had beaten him. It was the sort of mistake you could describe as unfortunate or unlucky. What was less understandable was Dalotâs next lapse after Palmer converted his second penalty.
Dalot consoles Garnacho after the torrid ending (Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
The right-back was among several United players who charged forward after the kick-off in search of a late winner. The ball was lost, Chelsea countered (yet again) and won a corner. Before the ball was played in Dalot, Fernandes, and McTominay were all pointing to Palmer, who was free on the edge of the box. No United player responded to the call and the 21-year-oldâs shot was deflected in off McTominay.
United have had consecutive games where smash-and-grab wins have turned into a draw and a defeat. This was their 17th loss in all competitions in 2023-24. âWe were in a winning position by playing very good football, sometimes brilliant football, scoring great goals,â said the United manager. âAnd then in stoppage time we didnât manage it, we didnât bring the win over the line and of course, thatâs frustrating.â
A Premier League season is a marathon run at sprinting speed and United are in a physical and mental fatigue that sees them losing pace on rivals. Following the 1-1 draw with Brentford, Ten Hag was indifferent to the number of shots his style of play afforded opponents, believing it to be OK as long as his team got results. But United arenât getting results â and their season is at risk of further drift and descent.
(Top photo: Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images)
