Ten Hag still deflecting but United's systemic problems loom large

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag after the Premier League draw with Burnley at Old Trafford. Pic: Martin Rickett/PA Wire 

THE sight of Antony, for once, living up to his undoubted natural potential, was offset by a bizarre goal celebration and yet another disappointing result but such is life at Manchester United currently as we enter the dog days, possibly, of Erik ten Hag’s reign.

There are the considerable consolations to come in an FA Cup Final derby with City and the prospect of European qualification, although the Champions League is now mathematically beyond them.

Beyond that, there is precious else, aside from the obvious impressive development of a handful of youngsters - Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, prime among them.

Instead, ten Hag is now lashing out with a predictable and growing list of excuses why this season has petered out in such disappointing fashion after his impressive debut campaign in charge 12 months ago.

Bemoaning United’s injury misfortune has been a familiar - and considering the club’s wretched fitness record - an appropriately-broken record for some time now.

It points to systemic problems in all sorts of areas of the club and is one of many which, hopefully, will be being looked at intently by new owners and senior management figures this summer. That injury record, although ten Hag’s employment of it is sounding increasingly desperate, is one key reason his supporters point to him deserving at least one more season in charge.

To that tired mantra, ten Hag is increasingly complaining about officiating, specifically penalties, and while he correctly conceded that Burnley’s equalising penalty, awarded after Andre Onana punched Zeki Amdouni in the face, was just, he could not resist a long list of recent penalty claims his side was denied.

He, conveniently, also failed to mention that Onana escaped an almost identical infringement in the nervy 1-0 opening night league win of the season over Wolves, when the visitors screamed at the injustice of not being awarded a clear spot kick.

But such are the dark arts of modern day Premier League management, when the object of the exercise is to deflect criticism.

Ten Hag might have been better employed to focus, instead, on the positives, such as Antony finally looking something like the 100 million euro footballer that United made him when they signed him from Ajax at the start of last season.

A return of five goals and three assists in 52 career Premier League games since suggests 100 million euros does not buy you much in modern football but there was no denying the Brazilian winger was high on work rate and, in scoring the opening goal, even higher in quality on this occasion.

Like ten Hag, Antony’s future is very much open to debate, not least because the United manager, whoever that is, next season has decisions to make over whether Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood have futures at the club. So, too, one would imagine, Marcus Rashford after his recent outburst about being hounded on social media.

If one, two, or all three are in the United squad next season, what does that mean for Antony, who has started just 14 times in the current campaign?

His minutes, too, could be lost to the emergence of Amad Diallo, who has yet to start a game for ten Hag much to the surprise of those who have seen him used as an impact substitute with increasing regularity of late, while Garnacho has become a regular on one of the United wings, having started every game since November 1.

Despite these obstacles, Antony clearly has not lost his self-belief - no bad thing, in fact a good thing, for a professional athlete. As he marked his goal by hugging what appeared to be a club photographer and picking up a cuddly toy - computer game cartoon character Sonic the Hedgehog - in a contrived celebration, it begged a question about the mindset of someone who would go to such elaborate lengths to choreograph a potential goal, when he had not scored since April 16 of last year.

But, after a difficult week in which he had been ridiculed for taunting beaten Coventry players in the FA Cup semi-final shootout and booed by his own fans after being substituted in midweek, Antony’s performance was worthy of such self-indulgence.

As for ten Hag, the excuses come thick and fast, as supporters’ impatience grows. He was booed here for taking off Mainoo late in the game although the increasingly beleaguered Dutchman used that reaction as a springboard to make his plea for patience.

"They are fans but I have to manage the team, winning games first of all and you see what the game needs, by that time we need some freshness but also some technical wise to bring a player who can keep the ball and is creative," he said.

"We have some very young players and that’s why we build this club back. That takes time. We bring in young players, Garnacho, Hojlund, Mainoo, they are all in the first season in the Premier League and it’s getting more intense year by year. Those players have to adjust and that takes time. I’m very impatient but we need patience and fans need patience, we’re building a team here and we need the experience."

MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): Onana 6; Wan-Bissaka 6, Casemiro 5, Maguire 8, Dalot 6; Mainoo 7 (McTominay 65, 6; Mount 90), Eriksen 5 (Amrabat 80); Antony 8, Fernandes 7, Garnacho 6; Hojlund 5 (Diallo 65, 5). 

Subs not used: Bayindir, Forson, Amass, Jackson, Wheatley.

BURNLEY (4-4-2): Muric 7; Assignon 6, O’Shea 5, Esteve 6, Vitinho 7; Odobert 7, Berge 5, Cullen 6, Bruun Larsen 6 (Gudmundsson 72, 6); Foster 6, Fofana 5 (Amdouni 56, 6). 

Subs not used: Trafford, Taylor, Brownhill, Rodriguez, Manuel, Ekdal, Tresor.

Referee: J Brooks 6.