During pre-season, Erik ten Hag admitted: \u201cI think, in general, when I came in at Man Utd, the standards were not right. That\u2019s true.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n A year and a half into his tenure, there is little evidence to suggest that Ten Hag has dramatically raised those standards.<\/p>\n Manchester United\u2019s limp loss to Newcastle United, with a\u00a00-1 scoreline\u00a0that desperately flattered the inept visitors, was the club\u2019s tenth defeat of the season. United have only played 21 games this term.<\/p>\n Across the decade of decay since Sir Alex Ferguson\u2019s retirement in 2013, no previous manager has ever racked up double digits for defeats as quickly as Ten Hag\u2019s current vintage. Yet, even more damningly than those statistics is the style of United\u2019s losses. They are still failing the same way.<\/p>\n Ten Hag candidly revealed the deeply troubling sight that he spotted ahead of his first away game as Manchester United manager, a humbling 4-0 defeat to Brentford.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw one of our players shake his head and say with a sigh: \u2018It is much too hot to play football\u2019,\u201d Ten Hag told\u00a0Voetbal International<\/em>. \u201cI thought: \u2018What is this? The opponent also suffers from it. You have to pull yourself together. You must have hardness\u2019. That was what was missing \u2013 that ambition. It\u2019s purely about mentality. Brentford ran eight miles more than we did that afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n The Dutch coach infamously punished his squad with a run to make up the difference in distance on what had been scheduled as their day off. But that question of \u2018ambition\u2019 was flagged in United\u2019s first away trip of this current campaign as well.<\/p>\n After a bright but goalless first half against Tottenham Hotspur, United wilted under the August sun once again. Ange Postecoglou\u2019s hosts racked up 98 sprints compared to United\u2019s 57, scoring twice against a set of players \u201cnot doing their jobs anymore\u201d, by Ten Hag\u2019s assessment.<\/p>\n \u201cThey didn\u2019t run,\u201d the Dutchman lamented that day. \u201cOr they run in the wrong moment, too late. Especially the front didn\u2019t recover.\u201d<\/p>\n Midway through the first half of United\u2019s latest loss to Newcastle, Anthony Martial barely broke out of a saunter as Fabian Schar waltzed forward, striding into United\u2019s half with precious little opposition. Ten Hag dropped his typical thousand-yard stare to\u00a0scream\u00a0at Martial, who expended more energy flapping his arms than he had when failing to press Schar.<\/p>\n Newcastle have been even more gravely decimated by injury than\u00a0Manchester United\u00a0but still racked up 185 off-the-ball runs compared to the visitors\u2019 96.<\/p>\n Manchester United\u2019s loss count hit double digits with defeat at Newcastle \/ Clive Brunskill\/GettyImages<\/p>\n There is ample opportunity for opponents to expose United\u2019s failings out of possession given their lack of any semblance of stability on the ball.<\/p>\n Following a dire 3-3 draw with Galatasaray in Istanbul at the end of November \u2013 which must have felt like a defeat after United had led 2-0 and 3-1 \u2013 Bruno Fernandes sighed: \u201cWe have to control our games. It\u2019s not the first game we have [lost control] like this.\u201d<\/p>\n Each of the club\u2019s three\u00a0Champions League\u00a0losses this term \u2013 a joint-high for United in a single group-stage campaign \u2013 have followed a similar collapse into chaos. Across their trip to Bayern Munich and the visit of Galatasaray, United conceded within ten minutes of scoring on four separate occasions.<\/p>\n As Fernandes highlighted, the 4-3 reverse in Denmark was hardly more measured. \u201cEven in Copenhagen, we had [a] 3-2 [lead], you have to be smart enough and manage the game better. Everyone has to step up and take responsibility for their own mistakes,\u201d United\u2019s captain bemoaned.<\/p>\n If anything, the side is worse than last term. United have shipped three or more goals in eight games already this season \u2013 that only happened six times throughout the 2022\/23 campaign. No improvement seems imminent.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mental errors we make, you cannot allow them at this level. You get punished,\u201d Ten Hag has said, before worryingly conceding: \u201cThis is difficult to control.\u201d<\/p>\n United may have\u00a0banned\u00a0the dissenting voices from their press conferences but they very much exist in the dressing room and will surely seep into the boardroom at some point.<\/p>\n \u201cThis team is resilient,\u201d Ten Hag declared after the tenth defeat of a bleak campaign. \u201cWe had a bad defeat and we stick together.\u201d How long that will last, if it hasn\u2019t already passed, remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
\nMan Utd\u2019s defeats across all competitions this season<\/h2>\n
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<\/figure>\n\n\n
\n \nDate<\/th>\n Result<\/th>\n Competition<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n 19\/08\/23<\/td>\n Tottenham 2-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 03\/09\/23<\/td>\n Arsenal 3-1 Man Utd<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 16\/09\/23<\/td>\n Man Utd 1-3 Brighton<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 20\/09\/23<\/td>\n Bayern Munich 4-3 Man Utd<\/td>\n Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 30\/09\/23<\/td>\n Man Utd 0-1 Crystal Palace<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 03\/10\/23<\/td>\n Man Utd 2-3 Galatasaray<\/td>\n Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 29\/10\/23<\/td>\n Man Utd 0-3 Man City<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 01\/11\/23<\/td>\n Man Utd 0-3 Newcastle<\/td>\n EFL Cup<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 08\/11\/23<\/td>\n FC Copenhagen 4-3 Man Utd<\/td>\n Champions League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 02\/12\/23<\/td>\n Newcastle 1-0 Man Utd<\/td>\n Premier League<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/figure>\n
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