This summer, Manchester United went on a defensive spree, spending €182 million to bring in four players: Mazraoui, De Ligt, Ugarte and Yoro. However, since the start of the new season, each of these new signings has exposed a number of problems: Mazraoui has been out of position repeatedly, Ugarte has been too slow to play the ball, and Yoro's return from injury has raised concerns about his ability to adapt to the pace of the Premier League. And the biggest problem comes from De Ligt! In the last two international matches, he made three major mistakes. If his performances at Manchester United continue to be so bad, then at least three people will need to take responsibility for the deal.
In the UEFA Nations League match between Netherlands and Germany, De Ligt made a short pass mistake at the back without any pressure and was directly intercepted by a German player, resulting in an equaliser. This is not the first time that similar low-level mistakes have occurred, with two errors by De Ligt in the last game against Bosnia and Herzegovina directly causing Netherlands to concede goals at the back. In recent years, De Ligt's misguided highlights have been able to cut out minutes of highlights. It is puzzling why Manchester United would have spent more than 40 million euros to bring in such a player who was abandoned by Juventus and Bayern Munich?
In my opinion, Ten Hag must be directly responsible for this deal! Since Sir Ratcliffe took charge of Manchester United, he has wanted to take back Ten Hag's power in terms of recruitment. However, with Ten Hag's contract clearly stating that he has absolute power in this regard, Ratcliffe cannot afford to breach the contract and can only keep Ten Hag in control of the signings. Therefore, Manchester United's recruitment this summer is still the same as in the previous two years, still according to Ten Hag's request, mainly focusing on Netherlands players or players who have crossed paths with him, which led to the trade of Mazraoui, De Ligt, Zirkze and others.
If De Ligt ends up being a "parallel import" for Manchester United, Ten Hag will be directly responsible. As a player who has been waived by Juventus and Bayern Munich and has not been given a minute of playing time in the European Championship, this in itself is enough to show that he is at risk in a trade. However, Ten Hag insisted that De Ligt still had the same level as he was during his Ajax years, and repeatedly asked the United management to complete the deal. With the existing reserves of centre-backs such as Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Evans and Lima, there is no need to bring in De Ligt even if Yoro is injured.
Secondly, Manchester United's technical department and sporting director also need to be held responsible, and they are clearly derelict in their duties. De Ligt's frequent mistakes in recent years are proof of his problems, but the technical analysts failed to keep track of the deal and let the deal be done until the transfer window closed. In the meantime, they should have had plenty of time to convince Ten Hag to walk away from the deal, but they clearly failed in their part.
However, it was Sir Ratcliffe who was most to blame for the deal, who failed to show enough toughness against Ten Hag. He should be adamant: if Ten Hag does not give up some of his recruitment powers, he will be sacked immediately. A coach who has taken Manchester United to eighth place in the league will have to make concessions for poor results. As for United's future, it seems unrealistic to pin your hopes on Ten Hag.