Manchester United manager Erik Ten Hag.
Credit: Reuters File Photo
Erik ten Hag, the manager of Premier League club Manchester United, has been seeing his side falter time and again this season, losing seven of their 16 Premier League Games so far, and only managing a single win in the Champions League group stage.
The latest humiliation that the Red Devils had to go through was the drubbing at the hands of 11th-placed Bournemouth, who walked all over Ten Hag's men at their home ground, Old Trafford, romping to a dominant 3-0 win.
On top of their debacles on the field, there are also rumours that Ten Hag has lost the current Man United dressing room, which has been a recurring problem with the club since Sir Alex’s retirement. However, both the club and the manager have denied these rumours.
Yet, despite Erik ten Hag's team lurching from one bad result to another with 11 defeats in 23 games in all competitions this season, midfielder Scott McTominay says the players are fully behind the embattled Dutchman.
McTominay also conceded that has not always been the case with some of ten Hag's predecessors where the situation sometimes became toxic.
"It is the players' responsibility first and foremost, the players know that as well," he told reporters on Monday.
"It is not just the case like (with) some of the other managers where it has been a little bit toxic at times.
"The boys are firmly behind the manager and that is the be all and end all. We have got (an) amazing coaching staff as well."
United even banned a few journalists from Old Trafford for publishing these reports. Later, the club issued a statement saying "We are taking action against a number of news organizations. Not for publishing stories we don't like, but for doing so without contacting us first to give us the opportunity to comment, challenge or contextualize.”
In a post-match presser, the Dutch manager said, "They should have come to us first and not go around our back printing articles - that is not the right thing.”
Up next, United will be facing German giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League, who have not lost a single match in the UCL group stage and are sitting comfortably at the top of Group A with 13 points from 5 games. United have four points after an equal amount of matches.
Performance analysis
Ten Hag has managed 85 games for United so far, winning 52, losing 23, and drawing 10. This means his win percentage is currently at 61.18 per cent. This win rate is above what Sir Alex Ferguson managed (59.7 per cent) during his time with the club.
Since Sir Alex retired, Man United have had six different managers—David Moyes, Louis Van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Ralf Rangnick, and Erik ten Hag. Among them, ten Hag has the best win record:
In fact, in terms of win percentage, ten Hag appears to be the best manager United have ever had.
That being said, stats don't tell the entire story—a bulk of United's wins under ten Hag have been by the narrowest margins, and have often come on the back of dismal performances across the pitch.
Now, a wavering United must beat runaway Group A leaders Bayern and hope the other match between Galatasaray and Copenhagen ends in a draw if they are to reach the last 16 of the Champions League.
It is a big if, although such is the wildly unpredictable nature of United's squad, victory over Bayern is not out of the question. It will just depend on which United turns up, the one that outplayed Chelsea last week or the one that produced a shambolic performance against Bournemouth.
(With Reuters inputs)