MANCHESTER, England – Manchester United's players apparently didn't read coach Erik ten Hag's program notes before their miserable 3-0 home loss to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
“I must be clear,” wrote the Dutchman. “Only 100% is enough.”
It was a demand made in response to Christian Eriksen's words after the 1-1 draw against FC Twente on Wednesday that his rivals “wanted him more”. But if Ten Hag was hoping to get a response from his players, it never materialized. 100%? He barely got half of it.
United were worse against Tottenham than against Twente. Much worse.
A casual glance at the scoreboard might suggest that the match hinged on Bruno Fernandes' red card just before half-time. That, however, would ignore the fact that Tottenham were by far the better team during the 42 minutes they remained 11 against 11. In fact, at times it seemed that Tottenham had 12 men, while the only United player to appear was goalkeeper André. Onana.
Spurs were already 1-0 up thanks to Brennan Johnson's early goal in the third minute when Fernandes was sent off. The only surprise was that it stayed that way until halftime. Ange Postecoglou spent most of the first half on the touchline with his hands on his head as he begged for chance after chance. He didn't need to worry. Most United players seemed determined to produce the kind of display that would get the managers sacked.
Ten Hag likes to point to last season's FA Cup final victory over Manchester City as proof of what he can get out of his team. But they have also been able to experience days like this during their tenure. In a field filled with disastrous performances, this was one of the worst.
“What I saw in the first 30 minutes is below the level we can expect from a Manchester United team,” Ten Hag said afterwards. “Even when you concede a goal so early, you have to stay calm, stay together and follow the plan. Then you would have a foothold in the game, but we didn't have this.”
United's collective list of offenses was so long that it's hard to know where to start: the players in red regularly gave the ball away, lost duels all over the field and failed to track runners.
Within three minutes, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho let Tottenham's Micky van de Ven pinch the ball unchallenged before the centre-back ran down the middle of the field in a straight line like a father who had joined a children's game.
In keeping with the decision to let Van de Ven run like Forrest Gump unchecked, United also decided that Johnson did not need to be marked inside the six-yard box and hit the back post. A marauding run through United's soft center and a relatively simple finish, it was almost a carbon copy of the goal Twente scored four days earlier.
If Ten Hag's pre-match rallying cry didn't act as a wake-up call, neither did Spurs' goal. Onana saved James Maddison and Timo Werner. In the middle, Johnson hit the post. Then it went from bad to worse.
Fernandes slipped while trying to close down Maddison and threw a leg. It ended up looking high and reckless and VAR Peter Bankes stuck with Chris Kavanagh's on-field decision to show a straight red card. To compound the problem, Kobbie Mainoo limped off due to injury shortly afterwards.
Ten Hag's response was to throw on defensive midfielder Casemiro at the break, but there was another setback just two minutes after the restart. The Brazil international lost a 50-50 challenge on the halfway line, Lisandro Martínez attempted a wild strike and seconds later Dejan Kulusevski had the ball in the net to make it 2-0.
United briefly started playing, but it was too late and it wasn't long before the match was over. Casemiro lost Pape Sarr from a corner and his pass was met by Dominic Solanke, again completely unmarked, to score from under the crossbar in the 77th minute.
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The Spurs have never had it so easy away from home. They emerged with just three away league wins since November 2023 and ended the afternoon dancing in front of their fans in the Manchester rain. Postecoglou's post-match assessment highlighted everything that United were not.
“We showed real faith and conviction in our football,” he said. “Aggressive in everything; with the ball, without the ball.”
With the score 3-0 and more than 15 minutes left, the exodus of United fans began. It was a miracle they lasted this long. After such a miserable defeat, the obvious question is how long Ten Hag will last.
There have been some improvements this season, but it is now just three wins from eight to start the campaign. There are tough trips to FC Porto and Aston Villa this week before the international break and two more performances like this will add even more pressure.
Much of the goodwill Ten Hag has built with fans after winning two trophies is quickly eroding.
There was scattered booing throughout the entire period, but there was no sign of an outright mutiny as Ten Hag disappeared down the tunnel. As his new bosses (Sir Dave Brailsford, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth and Jason Wilcox) sit stone-faced in the directors' box, there is a sense that the manager's future is on a knife's edge. For now, Ten Hag continues to fight.
“We made the decision based on a clear review [in the summer] what we need to improve and how we want to build a team, but we knew it will take some time,” he said. “We need some time. We are all together on a page or on a boat. The ownership, the staff and the players too. I don't have any worries.
“There is always a new game, it will be a new day and it is also obvious that we have to learn as a team.”
