THE RIGHT MOVE WAS MADE
With the long awaited sell of the club, some people feel this will be the best thing to ever happen to Manchester United since Sir Alex left but there is one thing that people are not paying really much attention to that is Erik Ten Hag. Arguably the best decision Manchester United have made in a long time.There has been a lot of positives at the club since he came in and one cannot turn a blind eye on the work he has done thus far.
After a terrible end to the 2021/2022 season.United continued were they left off and had a disastrous start to the 2022/23 season despite having a new manager. With a lot of doubts about his appointment and a lot of negativity flew in and around the club. It was up to him to set the record straight and he made sure situation changed.
Many had complained about the club culture. A lot of things had gone unchecked and he quickly was famous for making bold decisions showing that he is not afraid of anyone and is up to the task of being a manager of Manchester United. Amongst many decisions, he dropped players for not performing and merited stellar perfomances with consistent selections. This was a different side as there was a manager who was showing no favouritsim which had been the case under former managers where underperforming players kept on playing week after week.
Erik Ten Hag has showed that no one can stand in his way from dropping big names, making a Champions league winner like Casemiro work his way into the team whilst punishing Cristiano Ronaldo for indiscipline.
Its his work that made the club and fans be in expectant mood. With a thin squad at his disposal Ten Hag boast of having the most points against the top 6, comfortably in the top 4 race, semi final in the Carabao Cup and knockout round in the Europa League. At one stage if you had asked a United fan if after 6 months they would be in such a position they would have probably said no. An indication that with the right and adequate tools he can cause even more damage. A man whose had a gigantic task of managing Manchester United, a job known to come with it own perks. Erik Ten Hag has faced so many advertisities like a board that does not back him properly, player power, injuries, a thin squad, a squad full of different profiles that go against the club culture and more but still he has managed to steady the ship.
United fans for a long time had been out of the title race conversation but a good run brought that up. It had been merry for the last 11 games for United who were well placed to push City and Arsenal but fans have every right to be dissapointed for Sunday's defeat against Arsenal that confirmed that they maybe out of this season title's race only left with a top 4 chase. Plaudits to Ten Hag for making fans believe for even a short moment under these circumstances for the club to be close to the title chasing pack and going toe to toe with the log leaders Arsenal. United went into the Arsenal game without their best player so far this season, having played 2 games in 3 days playing the third game on the 7th day whilst playing against opponents who had last played 7 days back and on top of that having a number of players missing through injuries. For some this can be seen as an excuse but the fact that the United manager managed to come up with tactics that made sure an in form Arsenal win the game in additional time of the game is evidence of the work he has done so far.
United will hope to end the season with some silverware and guaranteed Champions league qualification and so far with where they are, the future looks bright under Erik Ten Hag.