Thirteen defeats. Never so many in the history of the Premier League for Manchester United, overwhelmed last night also by Crystal Palace in the postponement of the thirty-fifth day of the Premier League and increasingly a very faded copy of the great club it once was. The victory of the Carabao Cup last season, the third place in the league with 75 points – a mark that it had not reached since the Mourinho era – remained a legacy that the team and its coach Erik ten Hag have failed to capitalize on . What should have represented a starting point was instead experienced as an isolated flash, confirming that the corporate difficulties and the confusion generated by the controversial Glazer family had the upper hand on everything. And the coach could once again pay the price, the eighth from 2013 to today after the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. SO MANY MISTAKES – Also overtaken by Chelsea in the standings, currently eighth with three matchdays to go and out of any European competition for next season, Manchester United has failed in all the objectives available, starting from a Champions League concluded on first phase, in a group that is anything but insurmountable with Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Copenhagen. A colossal flop in terms of prestige but also economical, given that the fourth place in the group made the possibility of repechage in the Europa League disappear and evaporated potential proceeds of several tens of millions of euros. An aspect that is not secondary for a club that injected over 200 million euros into the transfer market and closed with a negative balance of 150. The three most expensive players, André Onana, Masoun Mount and Rasmus Hojlund, in various capacities performed well above below expectations: the former Inter number one has often ended up in the dock for the 55 total goals conceded in the Premier League – the same as Fulham, even worse than Everton in 15th and double that of league leaders Arsenal. The long chain of injuries that mainly affected the defensive department and the incomprehensible choice not to invest in strengthening that department have presented a very high bill which, according to the English media, will be entirely or almost entirely borne by Ten Hag. CONVICTED – Despite a contract until 2025 and a salary of just under 10 million euros, the Dutch coach, Guardiola’s deputy at Bayern Munich and protagonist of a successful five-year period at the helm of Ajax (2017-2022, with three Dutch championships and a Champions League semi-final under his belt, after having eliminated Real Madrid and Juventus), he seriously risks not being able to continue his project. Net of the usual declarations and denials. Not even the possible conquest of the FA Cup would save him, which he will compete against rivals Manchester City at Wembley on May 25th, after the very tiring victory on penalties against Coventry City in the semi-final. WILL YOU START FROM BAYERN? -If there are various names proposed by the British media for his succession, from Thomas Tuchel to Hansi Flick, passing through the Italians Antonio Conte and Roberto De Zerbi, for Erik ten Hag the rest period in case of dismissal it would still be very short. For Sky Deutschland, in fact, Bayern Munich, which in recent weeks has had to accept multiple rejections from coaching candidates for the coming season (the first was Xabi Alonso, the last was Ralf Rangnick), has expressed its interest in the Dutch technician and would carry out an initial survey. Finding full approval from Ten Hag, who would have the advantage of already knowing the environment, of also speaking English fluently – by virtue of the many foreign players in the squad – and which he has above all demonstrated at Ajax and partly also at United knows how to work very well with young people. An aspect that would be close to the heart of the Bavarian management, by virtue of the revolution arriving on the market in the summer.
