- Manchester United’s preparation for the match against Porto has suffered a serious blow
- The Red Devils face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday night
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Erik ten Hag landed in wind and rain on Portugal’s Atlantic coast on Wednesday looking for anything he could get to relieve himself and his beleaguered team. Any Porto in the middle of a storm and all that.
United’s plane arrived several hours late due to severe weather conditions and that seemed entirely appropriate for a manager and club that have been hit from all directions in recent days.
The pathetic defeat against Tottenham has turned a difficult start to the season into a full-blown crisis for Ten Hag, who is once again fighting to save his job.
A Europa League victory in Porto won’t end the speculation, but it would be a start. The 54-year-old has won just once in his last nine European games after last week’s deflating draw against FC Twente, so that will be easier said than done.
Ten Hag then travels to Aston Villa on Sunday and needs to put some credit in the bank before a two-week international break presents Sir Jim Ratcliffe with the opportunity to make changes.
Erik ten Hag’s preparation for Manchester United’s Europa League clash against Porto affected
The ‘red devils’ flight to Portugal was delayed just over three hours due to rain
Manchester United were due to fly at 3:00 pm, but did not take off until 6:10 pm from Manchester.
Suddenly, it’s May again for Ten Hag; rumors about his future and possible replacements, even after winning the FA Cup.
Now, as then, he keeps his cool and uses a history of winning trophies as a reason to keep him in charge.
“This is nothing to panic about because I experienced it very often with my teams during the seasons when you face those problems,” he said.
“Once you are a manager, and especially when you are a manager at Manchester United, you know that everyone will judge you. Much more than any other club, so you have to deal with criticism and not give it too much importance.”
Can he survive if the next two games don’t go well? ‘I’m not thinking about this. I’m not anxious either,’ was the response.
‘We are in this together. We made a union in the summer; the ownership, the leadership, this agreement and we all support it.
“We also knew what the strategy was with young players in a transition period, and we also know what process can be reached.
“This can happen, but you also know that in the end, when we are in May, in my last six seasons there were always trophies, and that is what we are aiming for now.”
Ten Hag is under immense pressure after United’s dismal 3-0 defeat to Tottenham last Sunday.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe could be forced to make a decision on Ten Hag’s future if results do not improve
Porto manager Vitor Bruno has problems of his own after losing to Bodo Glimt in Norway last week, so he was inevitably not overdoing it in his sympathy for Ten Hag.
‘I don’t know him. I don’t know him yet, but I would love to,” said Bruno. ‘In Portugal, if you lose a match you are almost dead.
‘I have heard many people say that he came with a noose around his neck, but it would be a big mistake (to underestimate them). Any club has problems but let’s see how things turn out. Ten Hag says he always wins trophies at the end of the year.
