Worst start since 1974 - how bad have Erik Ten Hag's Manchester United been this season?

Manchester United fans were once again left frustrated with their team’s performance on Wednesday night, following an eventful but ultimately farcical clash against Copenhagen in the Champions League. After going ahead thanks to two goals from Rasmus Højlund, the Red Devils were then sent into a tailspin when Marcus Rashford was shown a red card a few minutes from half time. The home side rallied with two goals before the break then repeated the trick in the second half after Bruno Fernandes had put Man Utd back in front in the 69th minute. 

The defeat in Denmark not only leaves Erik Ten Hag’s side bottom of Group A in their Champions League group table, but also sitting with an unenviable record of just eight wins and zero draws from their first 17 games in all competitions. The last time the Old Trafford club lost nine of their first 17 games was back in the 1973/74 season, which saw the club get relegated from the English top-flight. And while Ten Hag’s side are perhaps some way off such a fate this time around, there’s little doubt that performances to date have been well below par. 

How poor have Man Utd been this season? 

Although the most recent defeat came in Europe, when we take a look at Man Utd’s start to the Premier League season we can see just how troubled this team have been lately. After 11 games, Ten Hag’s side have picked up just 18 points. When we compare that to their performances at this point in the fixture list over the last 10 seasons it comes in as the third worst and notably puts the club three points off where they were last season. However, fans of the Old Trafford side may point to the fact that they’ve already played Manchester City and Arsenal, as well as a much-improved Tottenham Hotspur side in that period. 

What is Erik Ten Hag’s record at Man Utd this season?

To no great surprise, Man Utd and Ten Hag are both having dreadful seasons by any historical measure and when we look at the Dutch tactician’s career to date we can see that he’s currently in the worst run of form in quite some time. For example, in all competitions this season, Ten Hag has averaged just 1.41 points per game. Not only is that a 35% drop from last season’s relatively impressive 2.16 points per game during his first season at Old Trafford, but it’s also the manager’s worst return over the course of the last 10 seasons. As a result, Ten Hag’s overall record at Man Utd has now dropped to just 2.00 points per game, which is considerably less than his Ajax record of 2.34 points per game. However, calls for Man Utd to replace the manager may want to consider the fact that Ten Hag’s record is still considerably higher than Ralf Rangnick’s return of 1.45 points per game, or what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (1.85), José Mourinho (1.97) or Louis van Gaal (1.81) achieved in the same job.