Give me enough time and resources, they would say, and I can turn your fortunes around just like Arteta did at Arsenal.
Now, there are certainly similarities between the situation Arteta inherited at the Emirates and the one Erik ten Hag sunk his teeth into at Manchester United. Two sleeping giants beset by flawed recruitment, a host of overpaid, underperforming players, and owners who would not know a good footballing decision if it slapped them squarely in the face.
Arteta led Arsenal to eighth in his first full season. Then, fifth. By 2022 – two-and-a-half years into the role – Arteta had The Gunners going toe-to-toe with Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table.
But after Ten Hag’s own eighth-place finish, can he emulate what the Spaniard has down in North London? That is the question Ten Hag must answer, with successive defeats to Brighton and Liverpool only serving to embolden his growing throng of critics.
Erik ten Hag has a lot to prove at Manchester United
According to The Guardian, it is not only those outside of Old Trafford who are starting to doubt Ten Hag’s suitability for the role.
There are reportedly ‘serious concerns’ within Ineos’ new football structure about Ten Hag’s tactics.
And while the former Ajax boss may have picked up more trophies in two years than Arteta has in nearly five, Arsenal remain on a journey of constant improvement. The gap between The Gunners and the Red Devils has only grown during Ten Hag’s tenure.
“I don’t care what anybody says, he is so far out of his depth its unreal,” Stan Collymore, the former England international, says in his Caught Offside column.
“I am sure Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS have come in and agreed to let him stay on because they’ve looked at the time Arsenal have given Mikel Arteta and thought; ‘see, if we trust the process, it can work out’.
“Ten Hag isn’t Arteta though.
“I know Arsenal have only won one FA Cup with Arteta but there is clear and obvious progression being made season after season under the Spaniard. And, more importantly, the team have their identity back. The Gunners play technically exciting and fast-paced free-flowing football.
“Historically, United have played the same kind of electric, all-action football. Devastating, defence-splitting counter-attacks. But they are absolutely no where near rediscovering that identity under Ten Hag.
“At best, they’re too passive and at worst they’re boring. He has got to go.”
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