MANCHESTER UNITED had more skippers than shots on targets in their Carabao Cup humbling against Newcastle – as sorry stats pile up for Erik ten Hag.
The Red Devils manager insists he is still “confident” he can turn United around but admits the club are in a “bad place”.
And woeful statistics have engulfed Ten Hag’s squad in the past week.
Three United players wore the captain’s armband in Wednesday’s 3-0 humiliation – one more than the team’s total number of efforts on target.
First Casemiro skippered the Red Devils but went off injured at the break.
Victor Lindelof then took the band – until passing it to Bruno Fernandes when the midfielder came on for the final 25 minutes.
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Throughout the tie, however, United were armed but far from dangerous as Newcastle strolled into the quarter-finals.
The Red Devils rarely threatened the injury-hit Magpies, firing ten efforts off-target.
And although the stat about skippers outnumbering on-target shots is more quirky than damning, it typifies the disarray at Old Trafford.
Fans called it “shocking” – but it comes amid a string of other facts and figures far more damaging to Ten Hag’s chances of staying in charge.
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Sunday’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City took the Red Devils to 34 home Premier League defeats in ten years – the same number as Sir Alex Ferguson suffered in his whole reign from 1986 to 2013.
And the midweek Carabao Cup exit meant United have lost two home games in a row by three goals or more for the first time since 1962.
It’s also the first time the Red Devils have been defeated in five of their first ten home matches since 1930-31.
Ten Hag said: “I take responsibility for it. It is my team and they are not performing.
“I understand when the results are not there it is logical they (fans) are questioning that.
“But I am a fighter. I see it as a challenge.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
