Erik ten Hag took his time to leave Old Trafford after Manchester United's win against
Liverpool. Just two weeks later, he couldn't leave the Gtech Community Stadium quickly enough. United were hopeless against Brentford and it would have gone down as one of the biggest robberies in
Premier League history if Mason Mount's goal had won the game. The hosts had 31 attempts on goal, hit the woodwork four times and Thomas Frank said that he began to doubt the
Football God. "He gave a bit back," he added about Brentford's deserved equaliser and United now require a Jesus-like resurrection to secure a top four finish. ALSO READ: United have a dilemma with an out-of-contract player ALSO READ: Mount and Onana brilliant but McTominay and Rashford awful - player ratings United don't look like a team worthy of competing in the
Champions League and their performance on Easter Saturday was an insult to the travelling support in West
London. Brentford were dominant and it was remarkable they didn't score in normal time. Their fans couldn't believe they weren't leading at the break and a supporter waiting for the toilet at the interval was overheard saying: "How s*** are Man United? How aren't we winning?" Only three teams have conceded more shots than United in the Premier League this season and two of those, Sheffield United and Luton Town, are in the relegation zone. United have faced more shots in the league (498) than
Manchester City and
Arsenal combined. Wherever you look, the unwanted records are stacking up, including United and Sheffield United being the only teams to concede 30+ shots in more than one league game this season. Brentford had 85 touches in United's penalty box and created 3.11 expected goals. The numbers make for grim reading and Ten Hag has continued to play the problem down. Brentford deserved to win. When asked after the Brentford game whether he was concerned by the number of shots United are conceding, Ten Hag said: “As long as we get results, no. I think our results are quite consistent from January on. We concede shots but we don’t concede many goals." Ten Hag has been asked that almost every week and his answer hasn't changed, but alarm bells should be ringing if he believes conceding a flurry of shots isn't a problem. Although the Dutchman has argued United are conceding low probability chances, they add up and allowing the opposition to create so many openings is asking for trouble. United should be a proactive side, they should control games and restrict the opposition's chances to score. Ten Hag has spent over £400million and his side is the antithesis of that, which adds weight to the argument there should be an amicable handshake in the summer. Ten Hag's denial of the problem is bizarre and it's even more concerning that he's been unable to fix it, with the same problem having been seen throughout the campaign. Some key players have been unavailable, but it's a structural issue, as the press is often dysfunctional and there are pockets of space between the defence and midfield. There's been enough time on the training ground to address the problem and, unfortunately, United will continue to be the kings of inconsistency until something changes. The 2021/22 season was the worst in the club's modern history and yet, United have fewer points, fewer goals and have conceded the same number of goals after 29 games this term. United have gone spectacularly backwards and there's been a noticeable shift in fan opinion over whether Ten Hag is the right manager for the Sir Jim Ratcliffe era. Ten Hag isn't helping himself by failing to address some of the biggest problems.