Manchester United are set to stick with manager Erik ten Hag for matches against Porto and Aston Villa this week, despite their demoralising defeat against Tottenham at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Ten Hag has endured a poor start to the season, which has left United 12th in the Premier League.
Speaking after the 3-0 loss against Spurs Ten Hag said he was “not thinking” about losing his job, adding he and the owners are “on the same page”.
Ten Hag signed a new contract in the summer and last month club chief executive Omar Berrada said he had the club’s full backing.
While the pressure on Ten Hag is clearly mounting, on Monday morning BBC Sport was told the club’s hierarchy will always consider such situations carefully, rather than making a decision immediately after a bad result.
Nevertheless, Ten Hag faces a potentially pivotal week with trips to Porto in the Europa League and Aston Villa in the Premier League before the October international break.
Joint-worst Premier League start ever
After Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 27.7% stake purchase, a complete overhaul of the club’s board and an eventful summer transfer window, there was renewed optimism heading into this season’s campaign.
But that optimism has quickly dissipated and the stats after six matches in the Premier League this season do not make happy reading for Ten Hag:
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Manchester United’s seven points are the club’s joint-fewest after six games of a Premier League season.
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Only in the 2007-08 season have United scored fewer goals in their first six Premier League games.
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United have lost consecutive Premier League matches without scoring at Old Trafford for the first time since November 2021, in what were Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final two home games in charge before he was sacked.
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United have now lost more Premier League matches by three or more goals since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club (23 in 424 games) than they did in 1,035 league games under the Scot (22).
In nine matches in all competitions so far this season, United have won just three.
But if results are bad, performances are arguably just as worrying.
Spurs created an xG (expected goals) of 4.67 during Sunday’s win, which is the most the club has ever recorded in a single game in a Premier League season. In three Premier League home matches this season, United have accumulated an xG of 4.84.
Much was made of United’s leaky defence last season as the club conceded 58 times in the Premier League – their most in a 38-match Premier League campaign.
The Red Devils have kept clean sheets in half of their league matches so far, as well as another in a 7-0 win against Barnsley in the EFL Cup.
But they have scored just five league goals, helping the club to a -3 goal difference.
No United player has more than one league goal this term, with Marcus Rashford, Amad Diallo, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt and Alejandro Garnacho all scoring once.
Ineos and Ten Hag ‘on one page’
When Ratcliffe purchased a stake in United last December, he assumed control of football operations.
The 71-year-old made clear after becoming minority owner that the club’s problems extended far beyond Ten Hag – or indeed any manager that had come before him since 2013.
“In the last 11 years, Manchester United have had a lot of coaches and nobody has been very successful in that environment,” Ratcliffe told BBC Sport in February.
“That says to me there is something wrong with the environment. It is not constructive for me to blame anyone, it’s just a fact. My focus is on how I change that environment to get the best out of the coach and squad.”
An end-of-season review saw United speak to a number of managers about replacing Ten Hag.
However, the club eventually decided to stick with the Dutchman following the FA Cup final victory against Manchester City in May.
Ten Hag was handed a new one-year deal to take him through to 2026, but the club changed his backroom staff as Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake joined to replace Steve McClaren, Benni McCarthy and Mitchell van der Gaag.
The former Ajax boss insisted after Sunday’s defeat that he had the board’s backing and both parties were aligned on how to move forward.
“We are all on one page together, the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and the players’ group as well. I don’t have that concern,” he said.
Ratcliffe, who was not present for the 3-0 defeat, has not spoken about Ten Hag’s position so far this season.
Berrada and Dan Ashworth, who joined as chief executive and sporting director respectively this summer, have both given their support to Ten Hag.
“I think Erik is the right coach for us, he has our full backing,” Berrada said before the 3-0 defeat by Liverpool in September.
However, both Ashworth and Berrada made it clear that they were not part of the end-of-season review which decided to retain Ten Hag.
Defining week ahead
Not for the first time since his appointment, Ten Hag faces a defining week in charge at Old Trafford.
United travel to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday, having drawn against FC Twente in their opening group stage fixture last week.
The Red Devils then visit Villa Park on Sunday to take on Unai Emery’s in-form Aston Villa in the Premier League.
That fixture will be United’s last game for 13 days as the Premier League season pauses for the October international break.
‘No sense of knee-jerk reaction’
Simon Stone, BBC Sport’s chief football news reporter
I call this ‘tin hat time’.
Manchester United suffer a bad (really bad) result, everyone has an opinion (negative) and the club finds itself under siege. It’s time to put on the tin hats and ignore the noise.
What do they do?
I am not getting any sense there will be a knee-jerk reaction. United want to portray a sense of calm.
But clearly Thursday’s trip to Porto and Sunday’s Premier League match at Aston Villa offer both an opportunity to reset and a chance that a rubbish situation could get even worse.
This is an old and familiar situation at Old Trafford. But the people in charge are new. This is their first big test since concluding Ten Hag was the right man to stay in charge.
Leadership starts at the top. This is the point at which actions speak louder than words.
