MANCHESTER, England – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag enjoyed a good day as his team beat Newcastle United 3-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday, and can only hope for a couple more before this miserable season comes to a close. to its end.
As debate and speculation swirls around the Dutchman's position as manager, Man United won a Premier League match for the third time in almost three months. It was achieved thanks to goals from three young players, Kobbie Mainoo, Amad Diallo and Rasmus Højlund, while Ten Hag were also able to get Bruno Fernandes, Marcus Rashford and, crucially, Lisandro Martínez back from injury.
With one game remaining, the victory keeps alive Man United's hopes of finishing in the top seven and qualifying for European competition thanks to their league position. It also raises faint hope that, with an FA Cup final scheduled against Manchester City at the end of the month, a disastrous season could end on a positive note.
Whether or not any of this will be enough to keep Ten Hag in his job is only known by the club's new investors, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS.
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“It's a win and I'm satisfied with the team's performance,” Ten Hag said. “It is always difficult to play against Newcastle, they are very physical, but we also played good football, we scored good goals, especially the first one. It was a nice team goal. We got some players back, now we have more players available and have a bank.”
For the first time, his post-match press conference was very positive.
Thanks to Chelsea's 2-1 win over Brighton on Wednesday, Man United can only realistically climb to seventh in the table, which would still represent their worst result in the Premier League era.
However, they avoided a tenth competitive home defeat in their final game of the season at Old Trafford and, after a campaign that left Ten Hag battered and bruised, will take the small victories wherever they can.
As welcome as the result against Newcastle was, there were still parts of the performance that raised more questions than answers.
One of them: why has it taken so long to give Amad Diallo a chance? The 21-year-old Ivorian provided the highlight of Man United's season with an extra-time FA Cup win against Liverpool in March, but had to wait another two months to start in the Premier League.
Finally picked against Arsenal on Sunday, Diallo kept his place against Newcastle and provided an assist for Mainoo and then a fierce goal to score himself.
“Amad has had a difficult season due to a serious injury,” said Ten Hag. “He defended himself and his performance in training and progress has been very good. Now he had the opportunity for him and he took advantage of it. That's how it should work. There is always internal competition and I am very satisfied with the level of he”.
One of the criticisms of Ten Hag has been his loyalty to the £85million underperforming signing of Antony. But with the Brazilian on the bench, Amad took his chance and there's a good chance he's already done enough to start at Wembley against Manchester City in the FA Cup final on May 25 (live stream on ESPN+, US only).
As if to emphasize the point, the stadium began singing “Amad Diallo” midway through the second half. He followed up with support for the manager and chants of “we're on the march with the Ten Hag army.”
Most fans are undecided as to whether he should be allowed to continue next season and, for now, so is the club. Beating Newcastle has given them a break after a dismal run of form since the end of February. A decision on his future will be delayed until after the trip to Wembley.
After the final whistle against Newcastle, Ten Hag gave a speech to the fans from midfield, promising that “these players will do everything they can to win the cup.” He was well received and after a tour of the stadium, Ten Hag walked down the tunnel to the applause of the fans who had stayed behind.
“The whole season, for the fans, is a very difficult season,” Ten Hag admitted afterwards. “We are very satisfied with the attitude of the fans.”
He will be too. Whether or not this makes a difference for Ratcliffe remains to be seen.
After so many low moments, there is a strong argument to fire Ten Hag. But while there are still games left (particularly the cup final against Man City), there are still opportunities for Ten Hag to influence the debate in his favour.
It will take more than a narrow victory over Newcastle to convince everyone, but there is at least a glimmer of hope that perhaps an otherwise forgettable campaign can have a positive ending.
“After the season we've had so far, I'm not talking about being proud,” Ten Hag said. “We are all disappointed with the season, but we can still win something.”
