To say Erik ten Hag has faced a number of hurdles during his first season as manager of Manchester United would constitute an understatement.
The Dutchman, who saw his side come back from a goal down to overcome Fulham 3-1 and advance to the FA Cup semi-finals on Sunday, had to guide his squad through a number of challenges. From losing his first two games as manager to the big Cristiano Ronaldo scandal that erupted right before the World Cup, Ten Hag hasn’t had many easy and uncomplicated moments.
Despite all of that, he has led United to their first title in six years, the FA Cup semi-finals, the Europa League quarter-finals, and a legendary European triumph over Barcelona. The benefits have far outnumbered the concerns, and when you consider all of the hurdles he has encountered in a very short period of time, the work he has done so far is all the more admirable.
Now, with little over two months left in the season, those issues show no signs of abating. Casemiro’s second red card in his past three Premier League games, against Southampton just over a week ago, was another setback for Ten Hag.
The Brazilian, who signed the Reds from Real Madrid in August, has been widely regarded as United’s greatest player this season, correcting the club’s recent midfield issues and injecting fresh energy into a squad that was lacking in winners and a winning attitude. He has been the Reds’ glue, providing a defensive effort in the engine compartment that had been absent for several years.
When he hasn’t played, United hasn’t either. In the aftermath of Liverpool’s 7-0 defeat earlier this month, Jamie Carragher eloquently summarised his value, implying that when Casemiro isn’t playing or isn’t playing well, neither do United.
That was demonstrated once more against Fulham at the weekend. Although United managed to get the task done and win the game, their approach was, to put it mildly, uninspired. They missed control and were unable to take the contest to the Cottagers they ought to have done as the greater team at home.
That has not always been the case when Casemiro has been out this season. United has also struggled to impose control and dominate games since Christian Eriksen suffered a catastrophic ankle injury in January. The Dane was taken off during Reading’s 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round triumph after being hit by a sickening challenge from Andy Carroll.
Eriksen, who is not likely to be back until late April at the earliest, joined United last august and was tasked with helping to tackle the club’s midfield difficulties with Casemiro.
Operating with Casemiro, the Dane soon built a solid and dependable connection with the former Real Madrid midfielder, providing United with a combination of defensive nous and inventiveness in midfield. They instantly centred themselves at the core of the Reds’ improvements under Ten Hag, and it was a growing combination until Eriksen was condemned to the treatment room almost two months ago.
United have adapted to some extent without Eriksen while Casemiro has been present, but they have suffered without him as well. United met Leeds twice and Leicester City during the latter’s last red card suspension spell last month. Although taking seven points from such three games, they were generally weak and uninteresting, with a lack of creativity.
In those games, they were disorganised and lacked coherence, and it was a similar story versus Fulham at the weekend. Although Scott McTominay, Marcel Sabitzer, and Fred each have their own strengths, they do not deliver the same level of excellence as Eriksen and Casemiro provide, both separately and together.
The sooner United can reclaim them and reconnect them in the centre point of midfield, the better. They lack all that Ten Hag desires without them.
