Page 30 - Soccer360 Issue 107

MAN UTD SPOTLIGHT
ABOVE:
Manchester United Manager Erik ten Hag reacts angry during the Manchester United FC v Fulham FC English Premier League match at Old Trafford
LEFT:
Ten Hag may not have been the best choice to run Manchester United
THE BIGGER PICTURE
BY DEREK ROSS
It was only three weeks ago when my wife demanded to know when I was finally going to get around to decorating the spare room, that I ambled into
the nearest DIY store and enquired if they had any FA Cup wallpaper. The eyebrows of the young shop assistant drew together like a drawbridge as she searched the aisles of her mind for the product. Of course there’s no such item. This is because Erik Ten Hag bought
up every available role after his team’s unlikely win in the FA Cup final against a Manchester City team who obviously hadn’t finished their league winning cocktails. Anyway, not only does this product paper over every crack in the football club. It’s also guaranteed to blind the owners, and every member of the club’s board to their manager’s shortcomings.
The new season is barely older than an embryo and already Eric has turned on
the tap of excuses. Even before the season
opener at home to the mighty Fulham
he appeared at the customary pre-match conference lost in the labyrinth of perplexity, ensnared within the enigmatic tendrils of bewilderment to line up his opening excuse of the season that ‘The team is not ready
...’ unfortunately, United will never be ready under this man. Last season it was injuries. This season it’s erm ... injuries before the first game. Such an emerging pattern where the United medical room resembles a Ukrainian field hospital should be giving the fans and the owners some very serious concerns. Often, Erik likes to trot out one of favourite excuses when he talks about the bigger picture. Maybe because he likes to imagine himself navigating the labyrinthine corridors of football’s greatest realm, where the thunderous cadence of both the club’s tragic and glorious winning history echoes through the corridors of time, as he still visibly struggles to impose his own legacy upon the annals of this footballing giant.
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