You couldn't blame Erik ten Hag if he walked away from Man United (2024)

Seventeen days after lifting the FA Cup, Erik ten Hag is still waiting to see if he has a job at Manchester United. Still hanging on, twisting in the wind.

At least when United cut short their Wembley celebrations to sack Louis van Gaal in 2016, the club had the decency to put him out of his misery quickly.

Instead, Ten Hag is in the same boat as the rest of us; watching and waiting while new minority owners Ineos talk to any number of potential replacements about stepping into his shoes.

Thomas Tuchel may have dropped out of the running following talks with Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Monaco last week, but there is no shortage of other candidates.

Ten Hag is due back at Carrington for pre-season training in early July and, as of last night he and his staff are in the dark over their futures. It is a situation that cannot be allowed to continue. The indications are that a decision is due sooner rather than later, and not a moment too soon.

United are already operating without a permanent chief executive and sporting director just three days before the summer transfer window opens. This isn’t how it was meant to be when Ineos took over football operations at Old Trafford from the Glazers.

But if the problems arising from the appointments of Omar Berrada and Dan Ashworth were largely out of United’s control, the mess surrounding Ten Hag is of their own making. It’s a shoddy, some would say humiliating, way to treat a manager, particularly one who has just lifted his second trophy in two seasons.

Ten Hag has a groundswell of support among United fans buoyed by the win over Manchester City two and a half weeks ago. Since then, he has been left sweating on the result of an end-of-season review that looks suspiciously like a round of job interviews.

Ineos know they risk a backlash from supporters if they sack him, and it would also be a far from ideal start for the new manager.

The lack of a standout candidate from a group that includes Gareth Southgate, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi is understood to be one reason why this has dragged on so long. Southgate’s situation is intertwined with England’s fortunes at the Euros which could keep him fully occupied until July 14, the day before United’s first pre-season friendly against Rosenborg in Trondheim. A week later, the squad are due to depart on a three-match US tour that has been signed off by Ten Hag.

And what if United decide to keep their manager? Can he honestly trust the people who assured him that he was part of the new order while secretly searching for a replacement? Believe them when they look him in the eye next time? Or is the bond broken beyond repair? It is hardly the basis for a healthy working relationship.

Time and again since Ratcliffe’s investment was announced at Christmas, Mail Sport asked Ten Hag if he had the backing of Ineos. Each time he assured us he did. It was only when the penny dropped on FA Cup final weekend, amid the fevered speculation over his future and deafening silence from his employers, that his tone changed.

‘When I took over, it was a mess at Man United,’ he said defiantly. ‘We are now on our way to constructing a team for the future. If they don’t want me any more, then I’ll go anywhere else to win trophies because that is what I have done my whole career.’

There is a third, less likely scenario which has been discussed behind the scenes at United. That Ten Hag decides he’s had enough and quits. It would be a bold move considering he would lose out on the compensation due for the third year of his contract. But he is a proud man and no one could blame him if he did.

For now, he continues to await his fate and a decision by Ratcliffe and his cohorts, some of whom he has never met.

While Ineos sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford and United’s new technical director Jason Wilcox have been peering over Ten Hag’s shoulder for some time, Berrada and Ashworth have yet to start work. That has only added to the state of flux, although it is safe to assume that both men are having some input while on gardening leave. Perhaps another reason for the delay can be found in an admission made by Brailsford about decision-making on the podcast Diary of a CEO in 2022.

‘Those real moments when they do arrive and you’ve got to address it, they’re very stressful,’ said Ratcliffe’s right-hand man. ‘I get very introspective and look at myself in the mirror. Everybody who works with me will say it takes me time to make a decision because I think of every permutation and I think it through so much. Emotionally I am so encased with those things.

‘I’ve had to make a couple of pretty big decisions along those lines, and in the end I’ve got to say, “What do I believe in? Is it a popular decision? Is it a performance decision? In my world, are we trying to win here or do we want to keep people happy?”

‘Without really figuring out what you believe in, you’re always going to be caught in a storm and it’s going to be mentally excruciating.

‘If it goes wrong, I always want to be able to look back and say I made decisions based on my principles. We’re always fearful of the consequences of our decisions.’

The image of one of United’s kingmakers racked with self-doubt hardly inspires confidence, and nor does the manner in which Ineos have carried out the process so far. In some respects, it’s a battle they cannot win. In trying to be thorough, they are coming across as indecisive. In taking so long, they appear almost callous by making Ten Hag sweat.

All the while, the clock is ticking down towards a new season and what felt like the promise of a new beginning when Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo scored at Wembley last month.

Since shaking Ten Hag’s hand in the Royal Box and visiting the dressing room to congratulate the players, Ratcliffe has been faced with the choice of riding a wave of euphoria into the summer or setting course on new co-ordinates.

More than two weeks on, with Ten Hag back from a family holiday, it feels like we are finally about to find out which direction Ratcliffe has chosen.