Ten Hag to blame? Why Man Utd are held back by their misfiring attack in the Premier League

​

14th after 7 games 

Manchester United fans would have undoubtedly welcomed the distraction of another international break so soon after the start of the new season, if only to take their minds off the dreadful form of the Old Trafford club in the Premier League. After seven matches, Erik ten Hag’s side sit in fourteenth position, with just two victories and eight points to their name. And while the Red Devils did well to take a point away from their tricky trip to Aston Villa on Sunday, the 0-0 draw certainly unlined one of the fundamental problems in this Man Utd side and why their manager remains under immense pressure: they simply can’t score goals. 

Indeed, Man Utd have so far managed just five goals in the Premier League to date, which happens to be the second worst return in the English top-flight – level with Crystal Palace but ahead of Southampton, who have scored just four. In Sunday’s clash with high-flying Villa, Ten Hag’s team forced just one save from Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez over the course of the 90 minutes and when we take a look at the form of Man Utd’s top stars since Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford we can begin to appreciate why that may be something that continues to trouble them this season. 

When we take a look at which players have scored the most Premier League goals for Man Utd since Ten Hag was appointed manager in July 2022, it makes for some grim reading for fans of the club. To no surprise, Marcus Rashford is top of the list with 25 goals. However, it has taken the England international 75 games to reach that total, which works out at an average of just 0.33 goals per game. In second place is another familiar face in Bruno Fernandes, but his return is also far from ideal with just 18 goals in 79 games. And, as we can see in the graphic above, the attacking pair are just two of four players to be in double figures for league goals in Ten Hag’s time at the club. Which is a remarkable stat when we consider that the Dutchman has overseen no less than 83 league games with the Old Trafford club. To put that into perspective, in that same time period Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has bagged 73 league goals, Mohamed Salah has picked up 41 for Liverpool and Villa’s own talisman, Ollie Watkins, has scored 38 goals.  

If we then narrow in on the form of Man Utd’s players since the turn of the year, it also underlines why the club have been held back by their misfiring forward players. Rather than having an array of dependable, experienced players to rely on for goals, Man Utd’s most potent goalscorer in 2024 has so far been Rasmus Højlund. Which may come as a surprise to some fans of the club, considering that the 21-year-old forward has so far missed nine games through injury since the start of 2024 and only made one start in the Premier League this season. But, as we can see in the graphic above, he is considerably ahead of his team mates in the English top-flight goalscoring charts for 2024, with Fernandes and Rashford languishing in 30th and 49th respectively. And when we consider that ever-present winger Alejandro Garnacho sits 53rd in the league table for goals scored in this calendar year, it simply suggests that the players that Ten Hag is relying on for goals simply aren’t up to the task or are working in a system that doesn’t give them enough opportunities to score. 

This dire situation is perhaps made even worse when we consider the club’s transfer activity in the summer. One of Man Utd’s marquee signings was undoubtedly the arrival of Bologna forward Joshua Zirkzee for €42.5 million. However, the Dutch talent was far from prolific during his time in Italy, picking up just 14 goals in 58 games for the Serie A side, and has so far scored just one goal in 10 appearances for his new club. And when we couple that with the fact that Jadon Sancho has set up three goals in four games for Chelsea since he left the club to join Chelsea on loan after being ostracised by Ten Hag, it will only add to the frustration Man Utd fans have over the current state of their team. Man Utd seem incapable of scoring enough goals to win games and there’s very little evidence to suggest that Ten Hag has a solution to this problem.