Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has achieved a number of unwanted ‘records’ this season.
The Premier League side are just five games in to their 2023/24 campaign, but for a team with title aspirations have won twice and lost three games.
But aside from two stars being unavailable due to off-field issues in Jadon Sancho and Antony and a growing list of injuries, including the recent addition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Man United have also achieved a number of undesirable firsts already this campaign.
But that hasn’t stopped a number of rival fans from revelling in United’s misery on X, formerly known as Twitter. A post highlighting where Ten Hag and his side have slipped up this season has been widely shared.
First up, Man United had never lost at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium before they suffered a 2-0 defeat there last month.
Of course, Spurs have only been at their new stadium for four years, but it’s still not something Ten Hag will be pleased to have on his CV considering they’d achieved two draws and two wins there previously.
Secondly, Man United also hadn’t lost their opening two away games since 1973/74 until this season – which saw them lose their opening three – with them suffering defeats on both trips to north London this term, losing to Arsenal and Spurs.
Man United also hadn’t conceded more than one goal in four consecutive league games since 1979, either. That was until Saturday’s defeat 3-1 to Brighton.
They’d also not trailed by two goals in the opening four minutes of a Premier League game at Old Trafford before Nottingham Forest visited last month in Man United’s eventual 3-2 win.
Last season saw Man United lose to Brighton at Old Trafford for the first time, too, and Brighton had never won successive games at Old Trafford until this weekend just gone.
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These are simply the highlights for rivals and it’s worth remembering these are early days for Man United, but they find themselves in a position they do not want to get used – being every fan’s punchline.
They haven’t won the title since 2013, but trophies have still been a regular occurrence but for a side once feared at home and abroad, this will not feel good to any supporter.
They endured a difficult start at the beginning of Ten Hag’s reign last term in what turned out to be a decent season, with them going on to win the Carabao Cup and qualify for the Champions League.
But the list of ‘accolades’ this season is definitely not what he envisioned in the summer.
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