Ten Hag relief proves fleeting as Man Utd reverse at another ‘turning point’

If the win over Liverpool boosted Erik ten Hag’s employment prospects, Manchester United’s wretched display at Brentford dropped the manager back in the mire…

For a fortnight, we waited and wondered: might the dramatic win over Liverpool be the turning point that saves Manchester United’s season and Erik ten Hag’s skin?

Nope.

We should have known. That 4-3 victory in the FA Cup was a consequence of chaos and offered no suggestion of a sustainable improvement. At Brentford, United reverted to the same dross that has left Ten Hag on trial for his job.

What credit the manager earned by disposing of Liverpool evaporated as Brentford bossed the Red Devils in one of the most one-sided draws the Premier League has seen this season. Only the Bees’ inept finishing keeps United within 11 points of the top four – 12 if you account for a deficit of 20 in goal-difference – with nine games to go.

Despite being largely s**** for 105 minutes in west London, United should be two points closer. They appeared to have pulled off another late heist when Mason Mount scored his first goal for the club six minutes into added time. But even then, the Red Devils managed to find time to highlight their ineptness to draw a game they should have won and lost.

Kristoffer Ajer’s equaliser was the last of 31 shots attempted by Brentford. Thirty-one. Only three times this season have the Bees got within half that number. It should have been a comfortable home win for a relegation-threatened side that have won two of their last 18 matches.

Brentford (3.11) 1-1 (0.51) Man Utd

— The xG Philosophy (@xGPhilosophy) March 30, 2024

This was not an off-night for United. It was entirely typical of a season which has the win over Liverpool as its anomaly. In their last seven league games they have allowed their opponents an average of 25 shots per game. Tonight, they were dreadful, but not much more dreadful than we already knew them to be.

If the visit to Brentford last term illustrated the size of the task facing Ten Hag, tonight’s trip highlighted how far short the United boss has fallen in his mission. There is more than enough blame to spread around and spare any one individual being scapegoated, but the new decision-makers at Old Trafford cannot have seen anything worth salvaging from another nadir.

The problems were individual and systemic. Jamie Redknapp went down the pashun path at half-time, criticising United for a lack of energy and effort. Perhaps he had a point, but there was more to it than simply not being arsed.

United were set up with a defence, a forward line, and a half-fit Kobbie Mainoo doing his darnedest to fill the gaping void between. Mainoo is having a fine breakout campaign, one of the rare bright spots in dark season, but even England’s newest starboy needs a hand. Scott McTominay, while useful for a burst into the box, is incapable of offering it or being told to do something else.

With McTominay closer to Bruno Fernandes as the front three’s supporting acts, it was damning how little United created against a patchwork Brentford defence. Rasmus Hojlund was tossed scraps with which he lost 14 of 16 duels. The centre-forward made more clearances (five) than touches in the Brentford box (three). Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho both looked irked to be replaced when each was lucky to last as long as they did.

The defence, which finished with a different centre-back pairing to the one that started, had a permanently-startled look about it. Which is perhaps understandable given the lack of protection they were afforded, forcing the back line to retreat towards their own goal with alarming regularity.

Mason Mount scores for Man Utd at Brentford.

Were there any positives for Ten Hag? Mount scored to remind us of his existence and a tidy finish from the £55million summer signing United didn’t need might be a turning point.

But this United don’t do turning points. They offer fleeting moments that tease us to think that perhaps the penny has dropped. But they always revert to the miserable mean. The juncture they really need is the summer and some new direction from the dug-out.

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