Among them, a large part of responsibility needs to be given to coach Erik ten Hag for his mistakes in tactics and how to use people. The Dutch military leader is therefore facing great doubts about his future in the near future. And here are 5 things he needs to do immediately to be able to continue sticking with MU in the long run.
Stabilize the changing room, which is too chaotic
One of the biggest problems at MU right now Erik ten Hag needs to do is stabilize the team's dressing room. Because, "the red half of Manchester" is seeing a lot of news related to internal turmoil, players arguing with each other, causing disunity. That is said to directly affect the team's performance over a long period of time.
Martial is not on good terms with Ten Hag
According to reports from some recent newspapers such as Daily Mail or The Sun, Erik ten Hag has been having some minor conflicts with striker Anthony Martial. The two had "talked about" each other in the loss to Newcastle in early December. The same was true for Marcus Rashford, when the English player seemed upset with being taken off the field early in that match.
Previously, Jadon Sancho also had disagreements with Ten Hag and has not set a date to return to play. Obviously, the 53-year-old teacher is having difficulty restraining the star players with "too big" egos at the "old Trafford home team".
Scott McTominay before the match against Bayern Munich affirmed that the team still supported the former Ajax captain, but the reality on the field did not show that. The team is playing very fragmented, lacking determination and solidarity. Perhaps, Ten Hag should also humble himself a bit to please the players and help balance things out, bringing a better atmosphere in the dressing room. Otherwise, the risk of losing your job will become greater than ever.
Solve the problem of injuries to pillars
To explain the rock bottom performance, the continuous injuries of key players is also a reason that cannot be ignored for Ten Hag's team. Since the beginning of the season, MU has received up to 30 different injuries - the highest number in the Premier League this season.
The latest are two cases of Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw and they will definitely be absent from the big match against Liverpool at the weekend. Meanwhile, Rashford, Martial, Casemiro or Martinez still cannot return.
Maguire and Luke Shaw were both injured in the match against Bayern Munich
This is a difficult problem for coach Erik ten Hag as the season is gradually entering an important stage with a tight schedule. The remaining players in the first team along with some potential young names such as Mainoo, Hannibal Mejbri,... are all the hopes of the teacher born in 1970 at the present time.
But no one is sure that they will play well even in the context of the entire team's performance being at a very low level. Let's wait and see how Ten Hag solves this human resource problem!
Need to reorganize the defense
MU's defense is a difficult problem for Erik ten Hag with the fact that they have only kept 6 clean sheets in all competitions since the beginning of the season until now. This team has conceded 15 goals in 6 matches in the Champions League - a tournament record. In the Premier League, the "Red Devils" are also the club conceding the 2nd most goals in the top 6 teams and are the only team with a negative difference on the rankings.
That alone is probably more than enough to show how unstable MU's defense is playing this season. They easily conceded despite possessing heavyweight stars like Varane, Martinez, and Maguire. That is something Ten Hag needs to seriously review to help its defense regain stability like last season, bringing a greater sense of peace to fans.
Can the midfield hold the ball better?
In addition to the defense, MU's midfield is also operating very poorly. Their midfielders, from captain Bruno Fernandes, Casemiro to Mason Mount, Amrabat,... none of them are able to hold and advance the ball well.
Bruno has not shown great influence in MU's midfield
MU's average ball control rate this season according to Sofascore has not reached 50%. That is a very low number and they need to quickly improve this if they do not want to continue to sink deeper into crisis.
Kobbie Mainoo needs to be trusted more, alongside Mount or Casemiro - who have quite impressive ability to escape pressing. This could be a solution for Ten Hag to upgrade the midfield of the "Red Devils" in the near future.
Who will Ten Hag choose between Hojlund and Martial?
One more thing is that Ten Hag does not know whether to put his trust in Rasmus Hojlund or Anthony Martial in the red team's attack line right now. The Dutch strategist is inclined to give Martial more opportunities in the Premier League. And in the Champions League, Hojlund is a trusted name.
But look what Martial did
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Football