SAVED in Fergie time, Erik ten Hag is now limping into Unai time as Manchester United get ready for the inevitable.Bruno Fernandes’ 91st-minute winner means the Old Trafford crisis talks are on hold.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could be on his way outCredit: Rex
But no one should be fooled into believing that this unconvincing victory means that a corner has been turned.
They remain just one poor performance away from a crisis which could arrive as early as Wednesday night, when defeat in Copenhagen would leave their Champions League hopes seriously in the balance.
And the longer the uncertainty drags on, the more it feels like Unai Emery’s ill-starred 18 months in charge at Arsenal.
It was back in November 2019 when Arsenal reluctantly accepted that Emery had to go after he had lost the support of the players and the fans.
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The Spaniard had made a dozen new signings at vast expense but there was no sense of direction or purpose about what he was trying to achieve.
He alienated the dressing room when he tried to play the disciplinarian hard man and it soon became apparent his players stopped believing in him.
Sound familiar?
Ten Hag has been backed to the tune of £400million in the transfer market but it has been a scattergun spending spree and none of the new signings have had a significant impact.
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And as much as the players spoke of fighting spirit and backing the manager after Saturday’s mid-table victory at Fulham, they were fooling no one.
The starting line-up was the weakest United team many of the away fans could remember.
Antony, Ten Hag’s £85.5m biggest signing, was a liability once again, constantly surrendering cheap possession and showing a complete lack of discipline before being hauled off midway through the second half.
Christian Eriksen looked like a player whose legs have gone and was totally unsuited to a holding midfield role.
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Ten Hag’s is starting to look like Unai Emery in his last days at ArsenalCredit: Getty
And Rasmus Hojlund cut an isolated and frustrated figure all alone up front as he battled in vain for his first Prem goal.
Even Fernandes’ stoppage-time winner owed more to luck and Fulham’s defensive deficiencies than any scintillating attacking play by United, with the ball ricocheting three times off Facundo Pellistri before dropping into the United captain’s path.
And that would have been academic but for Andre Onana’s double save from Harry Wilson and Joao Palhinha.
The jury is still out on United’s £43.8m keeper but he is putting himself on the line in his manager’s hour of need.
Onana said: “Maybe those saves were important but what mattered most was the goal from Bruno, because that is what gave us this victory.
“The clean sheet gives us a lot of confidence but sometimes you don’t concede a goal and still only draw. The result was all that mattered.
Ten Hag still has support but could suffer another major setbackCredit: Rex
“But the clean sheet showed how hard we are working because we had to defend and suffer together and I am very happy with the way we fought for this win.”
It brought some much-needed breathing space for Ten Hag.
His supporters — and there are still plenty of those — claim he just needs time.
They point to the job Mikel Arteta is doing for Arsenal after being given the benefit of the doubt when initial results were not great.
But Arteta survived because it was clear to see what he was trying to achieve and his signings were a significant improvement on what had gone before.
None of that is currently the case with Ten Hag. No one can argue with the Dutchman’s record at Ajax.
But it is not happening for him at United and after 18 months it is difficult to see how he turns things around.
So sooner or later someone has to grasp the nettle and call time on a talented coach in the wrong place at the wrong time.
HOW THEY LINED UP
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FULHAM: Leno, Castagne, Bassey, Ream, Robinson, Iwobi (Jimenez 89), Palhinha, Wilson (Cairney 90), Pereira (Decordova-Reid 81), Willian (Lukic 76), Muniz (Vinicius 76).
MAN UTD: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Maguire, Evans, Dalot, McTominay, Eriksen (Mount 79), Antony (Pellistri 63), Fernandes, Garnacho (Varane 90), Hojlund (Martial 79). More
