Sir Jim Ratcliffe wasn’t the only high profile guest at Old Trafford on Sunday to see Manchester United play Tottenham. The INEOS chief was sitting next to Sir Alex Ferguson for his first match since sealing his 25 percent stake in the club and taking charge of the football operation. Wayne Rooney and his whole family were also present at the Theatre of Dreams, as was teenage darts sensation Luke Littler.
But all the VIPs would all have been hugely disappointed with what they saw. Even though the game ended in a 2-2 draw, Tottenham played United off the park, battering the hosts in every metric apart from the scoreline.
They had 64% possession and 16 shots to United’s nine, while also winning more aerial duels, tackles and corners. Even though the Red Devils had a last-gasp chance to seal victory which Scott McTominay wasted, Tottenham always felt like the team more likely to go on and win. And that was despite Ange Postecoglou’s side missing a number of key players, including talisman Son Heung-min.
United played like they were the away team, and the drab atmosphere added to the feeling that they felt like strangers in their own stadium. And the worrying thing for Erik ten Hag is that is has been like this for most of the season.
Thirty games unbeaten last season
It is no secret that Old Trafford has long ceased to be the intimidating fortress it was when Ferguson was in charge. Seven teams won at the Theatre of Dreams in the first year after the Scot’s retirement and all manner of figures across football of varying influence, from Pep Guardiola to Ronald Koeman toChris Wood, have since remarked that it is no longer a ‘scary’ place to go.
But last season it felt like it was impenetrable once more. After suffering early defeats to Brighton and Real Sociedad, United remained unbeaten for 30 consecutive matches at Old Trafford, winning 27 of them. And the illustrious opponents they beat at home included Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Barcelona.
United’s remarkable home results made up for their often dismal away form (losing 7-0 at Anfield, 4-0 at Brentford and 3-0 at Sevilla to name but a few) and helped them finish third in the league while reaching the finals of both the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Humiliation after humiliation
But since the start of this campaign, Old Trafford has felt like a free-for-all. Ten Hag’s side have won just half of their 16 matches in all competitions, losing seven times. They have conceded three goals on five occasions (something that never happened the previous campaign) and failed to score in five matches.
It is difficult to pick the lowest moment as there have been so many. The glum 3-1 defeat by Brighton was hard to digest, but the anarchic 3-2 defeat against Galatasaray, when thousands of Turkish fans invaded the home sections, felt even more painful.
United were then outclassed 3-0 by Manchester City, a torturous experience, but just three days later a severely depleted Newcastle team won by the same scoreline in an even greater humiliation. It was the first time since 1962 that United had lost consecutive home games by three goals.
Dreading each home match
Some respite came with narrow wins over Luton and Chelsea, but more embarrassment was only round the corner and came when Bournemouth gave United a tactical schooling and ran out 3-0 winners, only denied a fourth by a harsh VAR review.
It meant that not even the most optimistic of fans felt positive about facing Bayern Munich a few days later when their Champions League future was on the line. United barely laid a glove on the German giants even though Bayern already qualified as group winners, and though they only lost 1-0, there was a tangible sense of despair at the chasm between the two teams that used to consider themselves great European rivals.
United may have shown some attacking flair in their last two home games against Aston Villa and Tottenham, but they gave away cheap goals in both games. Particularly against Spurs, every time United scored, their lead felt fragile.
A season ticket at Old Trafford last season felt like a bargain, but now it feels like a rip-off, with matches being preceded by a sense of dread rather than excitement. Very few games have felt like moments to enjoy, but instead like 90 minutes to endure.
Lucky escapes
Even the matches United have won at Old Trafford have felt like lucky escapes. Ten Hag’s side were fortunate to win their opening match of the season against Wolves, who dominated the play and missed numerous chances to score before Raphael Varane’s header against the run of play. United were desperately lucky not to concede an added-time penalty, too, after a blunder by Andre Onana, which led to the PGMOL apologising to Wolves boss Gary O’Neill.
There was also something fortunate about their 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest, who scored twice in the opening four minutes and had captain Joe Worrall sent off, somewhat harshly. The 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Crystal Palace was the only comfortable home victory, but came with the caveat that Roy Hodgson was resting his best players for the league fixture three days later, which Palace won 1-0.
The 1-0 win over Copenhagen was a lucky escape, with Andre Onana saving a penalty with the last kick of the game, while the 2-1 victory against Brentford was another miracle, made possible by Scott McTominay coming off the bench to score twice in stoppage-time.
The 3-2 win over Villa was probably the highlight of the season, one of many second-half famous comebacks United have pulled off at Old Trafford, but it was another false dawn, followed by defeat at Nottingham Forest days later.
Butt of all jokes
United’s away form has been even worse, with Ten Hag’s side winning just 40% of their league games on the road. They have taken just one point and scored just one goal in their last four outings. More than ever, they need Old Trafford to be a place of refuge. Instead, it has become a laughing stock.
Almost every team’s supporters that have visited this season have gleefully chanted “Old Trafford is falling down”. The chant, which was started by Manchester City fans before being adopted around the country, is another taunt at the decrepit state the stadium has been allowed to fall into after years of neglect under the Glazer family.
The stadium has barely been touched since it was expanded in 2006, and although it remains the biggest club ground in the United Kingdom, it lags behind the shiny new arenas built by Tottenham and Arsenal, as well as the modernised and expanded Etihad Stadium and Anfield.
Renovating Old Trafford and the training ground at Carrington is seen as being a priority for Ratcliffe and he has pledged to commit £245 million ($309m) to improve the club’s infrastructure. An entirely new stadium, however, is likely to cost up to £2 billion ($2.5 bn), and could take as long as four years to plan and build.
Stop the rot or be gone
Ten Hag is unlikely to still be in charge to see the new or renovated ground, and at his current rate of results the Dutchman will be lucky just to see out the season, especially given INEOS’ lack of patience with coaches at Nice.
He has blamed the poor results on United’s miserable run of injuries and also pointed towards refereeing decisions, but neither of those excuses are likely to wash with Ratcliffe or his advisers, Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc.
What United need more than ever is a defined style of play, the type of which Tottenham showcased in their swashbuckling display at Old Trafford. Red Devils’ fans are not as fussy as the likes of Barcelona when it comes to style and they do not want to see a return to the sterile possession football that Louis van Gaal’s time in charge is remembered for.
But the reactive football they attempted against both Tottenham and Bayern is no recipe for success. And while it might be acceptable in intimidating scenarios away from home, it simply will not do at Old Trafford, where fans need to be galvanised.
Ten Hag has shown gratitude to United’s supporters and has never engaged in complaining about a lack of noise, unlike Jose Mourinho and Ferguson did on occasion. But he urgently needs to restore the fear factor he instilled last season or face the prospect of becoming an occasional visitor like Rooney and Littler, rather than a permanent resident.
