I am bored of Erik ten Hag’s bizarre excuses - the Man Utd manager needs to try a new approach

Manchester United ‘should have beaten’ Fulham. Antony is ‘unstoppable’. Nottingham Forest ‘targeted’ an injured Bruno Fernandes. Teams ‘show their best’ against United more than any other side. United were ‘close’ to beating Manchester City. There is not a huge gulf in class between the two Manchester clubs.

All of these contentious statements were made by one man: Erik ten Hag.

Even more incredibly, the remarks were made across five separate press conferences over an eight-day period, in addition to instigating disputes with Fulham’s TikTok administrator and Jamie Carragher. In short, Ten Hag’s media briefings are becoming more perplexing and entertaining in equal measure.

It’s difficult to know what he’ll say next at this stage, and a man who spent the first few months in Manchester habitually giving rather dull responses, suddenly is proving to be a regular contributor to newspaper back page spreads.

That’s not a good thing, especially given the nature of those quotes and Ten Hag’s precarious position as United boss. Sir Jim Ratcliffe didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement of the Dutchman’s time with the Red Devils, during his opening round of media interviews.

Meanwhile, United’s on-field performances have left much to be desired, and consecutive Premier League defeats mean the Red Devils trail fourth-place Aston Villa by 11 points. That could be too big a deficit to overturn and poor results in the next two matches against Everton and Liverpool would leave Ten Hag’s tenure hanging by a thread.

A report in the Sun over the weekend claiming that Dan Ashworth has met with Graham Potter won’t help Ten Hag’s outlook, especially given the former Chelsea boss’ prior relationship with Ineos and Ashworth. Zinedine Zidane is also on good terms with new United board member Jean-Claude Blanc, while Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Tuchel are among the other names under consideration if a managerial change comes to fruition.

It’s perhaps no wonder that Ten Hag is showing the strain in press conferences - at times it feels like a drowning man trying to draw another desperate breath. In his defence, the 54-year-old has come out swinging and timid displays from his side do place the manager in a difficult position. He can’t exactly come out and give an honest verdict after an underwhelming 2-1 home defeat by Fulham.

It wasn’t always like this for a manager who began his tenure by shaking hands with members of the press during his introduction at Old Trafford in May 2022. That feels like a long time ago, as do his addresses last season, which were often quite monotone and devoid of excuses. It was notable for long periods of last season how Ten Hag refused to criticise referees other than to point to a lack of consistency on occasion.

That’s changed now and on Sunday he seemed to imply Marcus Rashford should have been awarded a free-kick when he was lightly brushed by Kyle Walker’s arm in the build-up to Phil Foden’s first goal. It was the latest in a series of mystifying claims from Ten Hag, and his increasingly bizarre opinions point to man grasping at the thinnest of straws and he tries to justify to the new United co-owner why he should remain in charge.

Ironically, the comments after the derby come following one of the team’s better-implemented tactical approaches. For nearly an hour at the Etihad the false nine system worked, with Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay buzzing around Rodri and John Stones, United’s low block thwarting City and Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho offering opportunities for quick breaks.

Even the nature of the equalising goal wasn’t down to a tactical fault, with Foden’s strike a bolt out of the blue from distance. Eventually, fatigue, low-quality substitutes and City’s relentless nature proved decisive though. A response highlighting those points would perhaps have been a more advisable tact for Ten Hag to take post-match, rather than the nonsense spewed to the incredulous reporters at the Etihad.