Ten Hag’s qualifying incompetence cost Man Utd

West Ham 2-1 Man Utd (Summerville 74′, Bowen 90+2′ pen | Casemiro 81′)

LONDON STADIUM — An even penalty West Ham rouge resolved in added time a match they could have lost by the bucketload before half-time. The feeling of injustice was allowed Erik ten Hag He struggles to brush aside the familiar excuses, but the facts are as bare as his pal. He’s not the man to lead Manchester United.

Four defeats in nine leagues is not a random statistic. Yes, they squandered four sharp chances in half an hour, but in the second half that old inertia reasserted itself and for 45 minutes a team who were flatter on the kit front and led by a manager even more unpopular than Ten Hag turned the tables. With three dynamic substitutions, the game was turned upside down.

Where Julen Lopetegui Evaluating the day during the break, Ten Hag sat back, waiting for something to happen, now with the common result. United first fell behind and, after stealing an equalizer with ten minutes left, found a way to capitalize on that early promise.

VAR Michael Oliver’s intervention could have been another change of performance that confused everyone except himself and man in the middle David Coote, but it cannot be allowed to mask the rank incompetence under the coach’s watch. United’s decline continues.

Read Next

If new co-owners Ineos can’t see this with their expensively put together so-called “best in class” technical department then they are as unreasonable as the Dutch. It’s hard to overstate just how weak West Ham were, from the speedy Crysencio Summerville, who was oddly overlooked at the start of the match, to the introduction of Tomas Soucek early in the second half.

Alejandro Garnacho There could have been two in the opening eight minutes. Among the many problems that Ten Hag had failed to solve, the most problematic was finding the back of the network. If Erling Haaland or Mo Salah were feeding off Bruno Fernandes’ safecracker passes, West Ham would be on life support.

Fernandes’ departure wasn’t any better Casemiro’s Lukasz Fabianski flutters through the air and crosses the bar. Diogo Dalot would put the pair past the pair with a classic of the genre, slotting the ball over the goalkeeper and shooting into the empty net. Amazing.

The clock had struck 31 when Dalot lit the opener in the fourth, which vividly explains why United had failed to score in the first 35 minutes. Premier League match this season. Under Ten Hag, they have not yet scored 60 league goals in the season and have a goal difference deficit this season.

The confident tempo with which United began was always in danger of flagging, but in West Ham they were facing a conciliatory foe in the first half who were in an organizationally weak position. The gaps in midfield made it easier for United to reset. Unsuccessful attacks were quickly repurposed against a team unable to retain possession.

So the opening half became a parade, with Fernandes and Casemiro enjoying the freedom to do whatever they wanted. The latter has gradually improved since the rinse against Liverpool at Old Trafford and continues to roll like a Bentley in the space allowed to him here. The timing of his one-touch link-up play with Fernandes was orchestral, repeatedly releasing Garnacho down the left.

But everything turned into nothingness. Ten Hag rightfully complained about what it looked like at first glance This was not only a terrible decision but also an unnecessary tackle made long after play had resumed. Even so, what happened before condemns him and those who kept him in office.