“They have been an absolute disgrace” – Erik ten Hag on the brink after latest Man Utd disasterclass

For the first time across 242 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions, Bruno Fernandes was shown a red card. It summed up what Gary Neville described as “one of the worst performances” under beleaguered head coach Erik ten Hag.

Despite the sending off, United weren’t exactly on top of their visitors, who had taken an early lead through Brennan Johnson. They had learned the news beforehand that skipper Son Heung-Min had been ruled out.

Spurs could have easily doubled or tripled their advantage before Fernandes became just the fourth Manchester United captain to be sent off in a Premier League game at Old Trafford after Roy Keane in April 2001 (vs. Manchester City), Nemanja Vidić in March 2014 (vs. Liverpool), and Wayne Rooney in September 2014 (vs. West Ham).

“That sums up Manchester United in the first half. They have been an absolute disgrace,” Neville lambasted on Sky Sports commentary.

“It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag. And that is saying something. It is really bad.”

United were lethargic and devoid of ideas with a full set of players, so with one fewer, it was inevitable the floodgates would open. Dejan Kulusevski effectively put the game beyond Ten Hag’s side, with United now having conceded two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half. Only Crystal Palace (three) have beaten them regarding this statistic in the Premier League this season.

Dominic Solanke then became only the third Englishman to score in three consecutive Premier League appearances against Man Utd, after Jermain Defoe and Bukayo Saka.

Guglielmo Vicario in the Spurs goal couldn’t have asked for a quieter afternoon as Man Utd have now failed to score in 3 of their 6 games; no team has failed to do so more often in the Premier League this season. United’s seven points are their joint-fewest after six games of a Premier League season (W2 D1 L3 – the same record in both 2013-14 and 2020-21). Meanwhile, only in 2007-08 (4) have they scored fewer goals through their first six Premier League games than they have this term (5).

Even more ominous is the fact that United have lost consecutive Premier League matches without scoring at Old Trafford for the first time since November 2021, in what were Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s final two home games in charge of the club (0-5 vs. Liverpool and 0-2 vs. Manchester City).

Many felt Ten Hag would lose his position as Man Utd manager following a historically poor 2023/24 campaign, but their incredible FA Cup win over Man City, coupled with a lack of replacment options, saved him. But with another international break on the horizon, one wonders if Ten Hag will be in charge come Christmas, let alone finishing the season.

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