Set to face Man City in FA Cup final – has Erik Ten Hag done enough to keep Man Utd job?

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Under fire 

Manchester United have the rare opportunity to finish a disappointing season on a high note on Saturday, when they face rivals Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup. The odds will be stacked against Erik Ten Hag’s side, as fans of the Old Trafford club hope to not only inflict revenge on last season’s final, in which Pep Guardiola’s team won 2-1, but to also halt their rival’s march to a domestic double. 

However, for Ten Hag, the task will be a little more personal in nature. Reports in England are strongly suggesting that the Old Trafford club have already contacted Ipswich town manager Kieran McKenna as a potential successor to the Dutch manager. And some reports go as far as to suggest that Ten Hag may well lose his job regardless of what happens at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. So what is Ten Hag’s record like at Man Utd and could the club draw a line under it all regardless of how Saturday’s clash goes?

Erik Ten Hag’s cup record at Man Utd 

Despite what his current predicament at the club may suggest, Ten Hag’s record in domestic cup competitions is actually rather impressive since he made the move to Man Utd. In his first season at the club, Man Utd reached the final of both the League Cup and FA Cup, where they won the former with a 2-0 win over Newcastle and lost the latter in the aforementioned defeat to Man City. This season hasn’t been as impressive, with Newcastle getting revenge for the final defeat by knocking Man Utd out in the fourth round of the League Cup. But Ten Hag could still finish this season with his second cup medal in as many years, should Man Utd overcome Man City on Saturday. And that’s certainly not a bad record for any manager. 

Erik Ten Hag’s European record at Man Utd

Unfortunately, Ten Hag’s rather impressive record in knock-out competitions hasn’t seemed to extend to European games. In his first season at the club, Man Utd featured in the Europa League and despite getting through their group with relative ease, the Old Trafford club only just squeezed past a poor Barcelona team in the first knock-out round, before losing convincingly to Sevilla in the quarter-finals. Concerns over Ten Hag’s side struggling against good teams was only offered further proof this season, when Man Utd failed to get out of a Champions League group that featured Galatasaray, Copenhagen and Bayern Munich. Over the course of the six games, Ten Hag’s side picked up just one victory and one draw. 

Remarkably, during his time at Ajax, Ten Hag’s side got out of the Champions League group stages in two of the four seasons and in one instance went as far as the semi-finals of the competition. In total, the Dutch tactician’s record while at Ajax amounted to an average of 1.81 points per game. Since joining Man Utd, that average has dropped to just 0.67 points per game. And in many ways underlines the stark contrast in fortunes for Ten Hag from one club to the next. 

Erik Ten Hag’s Premier League record at Man Utd 

However, the record at Man Utd that has really dogged Ten Hag since he made the move to England is the manager’s performances in the Premier League. There, all Man Utd managers are judged the most and the former Ajax manager has certainly come up short. This season saw the club finish eighth with just 60 points from 38 games – the second worst return for any Man Utd team in Premier League history and the second poorest points tally since 1991. And, again, this seems to be a notable far cry from the kind of numbers Ten Hag used to pick up with relative ease back in the Eredivisie. 

Indeed, this season’s average of 1.58 points per game is Ten Hag’s worst return in a domestic league competition since 2016, with last season’s decent return of 1.97 still some way off what the manager achieved at Ajax. In total, Ten Hag’s Premier League record stands at just 1.78. Which is an almost 18% drop in points compared to his record in the Netherlands. And while many would expect Ten Hag to find the Premier League more challenging, there’s little doubt that Man Utd fans would have been expecting a far better return than that.