The stat that makes a case for Erik ten Hag staying at Manchester United

The jury is still very much out on Erik ten Hag at Manchester United. For every argument to keep him in the job there is an equal argument in favour of replacing him.

Ten Hag will point towards reaching a second successive FA Cup Final as a 'huge achievement', but the manner of their three-goal collapse against Coventry City was embarrassing, no matter what he says.

United won't be in the Champions League next season and have regressed on the pitch. Ten Hag's signings have struggled to light up Old Trafford and he is now relying on a core of academy graduates and periphery figures to tide them over until the end of the season. Yet, amid all this, he could still end the season winning as many trophies as Jurgen Klopp will have done during his farewell tour.

It is also hard to argue that there is clearly a more eligible candidate for the managerial role out there at the moment and that it is unfair to truly judge Ten Hag until we've seen how he fairs under a proper structure, with an industry-leading recruitment team and a revamped medical department.

The most compelling of those is the later. We saw last season what a good manager Ten Hag is, and it is preposterous to suggest that he has suddenly become clueless altogether.

He is certainly to blame for a lack of game management and some tactical short fallings this season, but most of United's stylistic issues are intrinsically linked with injury issues that have ravaged the squad this season. United have now suffered 61 separate instances of injury or illness that have caused a senior player to miss a competitive match this season, and that number will likely rise following Scott McTominay's withdrawal against Burnley last weekend.

The numbers are damning. United haven't had a recognised left-back in 27 of the 47 games this season and in only five of those matches have they been able to field what many would consider to be their strongest centre-back pairing of Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane. They won four of those five matches and lost one.

Luke Shaw's absence has also had a huge impact on the team, as has the lack of suitable cover. United have won 61.53% of matches in which he has played at left-back this season, with eight wins and three defeats. Beyond that, United have only been able to play their strongest back-four twice this season and have won both matches, albeit they have conceded a lot of goals in those, the 4-2 win vs Newport and 4-3 victory vs Wolves.

Yet perhaps it is little wonder United have lacked cohesion and a clear identity this season when their team has changed quite so often, with players unable to build the same rhythm and routine that we saw during Ten Hag's debut campaign.

It is also important to note the sheer magnitude of the personnel who have been missing. There are few players who embody Ten Hag's style of play quite like Shaw and Martinez, so to lose one of them is bad enough, never mind to have lost both of them for much of the campaign.

Of course, the manager isn't entirely blameless either. A number of senior players believe Ten Hag's tactics and training regime are partly to blame for the club's injury crisis, while there are serious questions about the club's decision to allow Tyrell Malacia to undergo treatment in the Netherlands with his own choice of surgeon. The Dutch defender is not at the same level as Shaw, but he made 39 appearances for United last season and was only missing from the matchday squad once. His cover has been sorely missed this campaign.

Questions have also been raised over United's handling of players returning from injury, with McTominay the latest player to suffer an injury setback so soon after returning from a previous lay-off. Again, it is difficult to differentiate when Ten Hag is directly to blame and when he is being let down by the wider failings of the team around him.

Those are the answers the Ineos Group must find, but it is unfair to criticise United's struggles this season without taking a deep look at the injury issues that have underpinned their poor performances and left them unable to establish the momentum or consistency required to compete at the very top of the Premier League.

Something has to change this summer, and if the structure is corrected, then perhaps the manager doesn't need to be as well.