When Will the Manchester United Cycle Stop?

Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United promising to inspire flowing, thrilling transition football. And, you have to say, mission accomplished. You only had to watch Crystal Palace pouring forward at speed on Monday night, or Sheffield United bombing up the pitch at Old Trafford a couple of weeks ago, or indeed Coventry City in the recent FA Cup semi-final. Thanks to Ten Hag, United fans are being treated to sumptuous counterattacking fare on a near-weekly basis, even if – unhappily for Ten Hag’s job prospects – most of it these days seems to be getting played by the opposition.

Yes: it’s an even-numbered year, so we’re discussing whether the Manchester United manager should be sacked. And so to David Moyes (2014), Louis van Gaal (2016), José Mourinho (2018), Ole Gunnar Solskjær (a pandemic-delayed 2021) and Ralf Rangnick (2022) can almost certainly be added Ten Hag (2024), another well-credentialled manager who just didn’t have what it takes to manage a massive club like United. Seriously unlucky! How do they keep ending up with these guys?

Ten Hag talks a lot about “following the script”, and if he has read this particular treatment to the end, he will know the moment of reckoning is probably close at hand. And of course there would be a satisfying structural circularity to it: a reign bookended by two stunning 4-0 defeats in London, 30-year-old and 32-year-old Christian Eriksens floundering alike in midfield, a coach as bereft of explanations at the end as he was at the start.

“Individual mistakes; we had a good plan but put it in the bin,” Ten Hag said after the Brentford game in 2022. “Big mistakes; not following the plan or the script,” he said after the Palace defeat in 2024. Sometimes you just have to submit to the pull of the narrative.

So barring a miraculous victory in the FA Cup final against Manchester City or an unlikely reprieve by the new Ineocracy, Ten Hag will probably go at the end of the season. And – you know – fair enough. You simply cannot play this badly, this often, and expect to keep your job. The most defeats in any season since 1977-78. The most goals conceded since 1976-77. A now familiar inability to prevent teams from shooting: indeed, in the time since you started reading this article André Onana has saved another four shots, and flapped at two more.

But more damning even than the statistics are the optics. The general sense of panic and disarray that spreads through the entire team when someone runs at them. The reliable Jonny Evans, reliably perched 10 yards behind the rest of his defence, as if auditioning to be their drummer. The forlorn sight of Casemiro sliding in on Michael Olise on Monday night and missing not just Olise but the memory of Olise: like a man walking into a room and immediately forgetting why he entered it.

Of course, everyone knows why United keep conceding. The front three press high, the defence fail to push up, and so enormous gaps open up in the middle of the pitch that far better midfielders than Sofyan Amrabat would struggle to cover. Beat the first press, and you have 60 yards of clear, beautiful air. The full-backs can overlap. Quick switches and through balls magically open up. The result: crosses, shots, mayhem, fume.

If some bloke off YouTube can see all this, then let’s assume that a former coach at Bayern Munich, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven – a man once described by Pep Guardiola as the ideal candidate to succeed him at Manchester City – can too. So why hasn’t he fixed it? Personnel is one reason. Lisandro Martínez, a defender signed to be Ten Hag’s general on the pitch, has only played nine league games all season; Luke Shaw 12, Tyrell Malacia none.

That’s three-quarters of Ten Hag’s first-choice backline. In their absence he has been left with more reactive, last-line defenders like Evans, Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire, or non-defenders like Amrabat and Casemiro, who lack the capability to play a sophisticated, organised, high-line defence. Could Ten Hag have tried it anyway, even if the personnel didn’t fit? Could he have reconfigured the entire setup, gone back to a low block, abandoned his principles entirely? Could United have helped him out with an emergency signing in January? Perhaps. But we have to recognise that none of these felt like guaranteed solutions at the time.

And then we come to what Mourinho so beautifully expressed as “football heritage”. Ten Hag has probably gone further than any of his predecessors in trying to work out how a United team should play, rather than simply bolting their own ideas on to the existing squad. His stated desire to make United the “best transition team in the world” springs not just from his own principles but from an assessment of what United fans – and importantly, United plc – would demand. A game of back-and-forth, lightning counterattacks, pace and verve in attacking areas, exciting wingers, heroic comebacks, lots of goals, late drama.

And again, you have to say – with less sarcasm – mission accomplished. United have scored eight times in the first 10 minutes, won seven games in the last 10 minutes, conceded 13 times in the 87th minute or later. They’ve failed to close out a winning position 11 times in all competitions. Their games this season have averaged 3.4 goals. This may not be the optimum outcome for United the team. But it is a clear win for United the global entertainment product.

Meanwhile players like Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo have blossomed into indispensable talents, Rasmus Højlund has found his feet in a tough league, Diogo Dalot has improved, Willy Kambwala has impressed. Bruno Fernandes has come through for them again. Onana, Amrabat, Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount have struggled, but are not so bad as to be utterly irredeemable. The point is this: for all the horrors of the last 12 months, United have won a trophy and reached two finals, and are probably a functioning defence, a firing Jadon Sancho and a few other incremental improvements away from being quite good.

But of course this is not what moves the dial at a club like United. Recently there have been multiple stories about how everyone at the club is theoretically up for sale, about how the new regime of Dave Brailsford and Jim Ratcliffe wants to clear the decks, starting but not ending with Ten Hag.

This stuff feels good and cathartic. Purgation, bloodletting, burning it all down and starting again. Drain the swamp. Flush the bowl. By a happy coincidence, this is also the approach that drives the most content, incites the most transfer gossip and late-night panel discussion, feeds the most performative online chatter, shines the flashlight of attention most gloriously and most lucratively upon the hallowed name of Manchester United Football Club.

So the cycle starts again. Thomas Tuchel, Gareth Southgate, Graham Potter. A tranche of new signings. New dawns and new hope. Give the new manager time. Give the new players a chance to settle. Late goals, heroic wins. Rashford is back. But is the football really an improvement? Are United going backwards? Drubbings, humiliations, cup exits. Players unhappy with training, reports unnamed dressing room source. Mark Goldbridge is trending. Official club statement. New manager search begins. Welcome to Manchester United, where the transition never ends.

- The Guardian Sport

French soldiers and police are being deployed both in and along the River Seine to make it safe during the grandiose opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, when thousands of athletes will sail down the river at sunset toward the Eiffel Tower.

The unprecedented decision to use a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) stretch of the Seine as a spectacular stage for the July 26 ceremony in front of a 320,000-strong crowd has created a huge challenge for security services, who will need to ensure the safety of Olympians and spectators alike.

French authorities said 45,000 police officers and gendarmes are being deployed for the occasion, as well as 10,000 soldiers of the so-called Sentinelle military operation.

A specially created battalion has been tasked to secure the embarkation zone for athletes located along Paris' eastern portion of the river. The battalion's mission includes the full protection of the area, the boats and the attendees, in close coordination with other security forces.

"This mission is complex and unprecedented," Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier, chief of operations of the battalion, said Wednesday. "It’s complex because we’re in an environment — the Parisian environment, the Seine — which is an urban environment ... with obvious vulnerabilities. The Seine is an area where there are a lot of activities."

Former US President Donald Trump’s assassination attempt Saturday further raised awareness about the highly sensitive mission.

Paris has been the target of deadly terror attacks in the past decade, and the Seine flows through the heart of the city, surrounded by office and apartment buildings and used every day by barges and other ships.

"We were already on a very high level of security. So the attack on Donald Trump only reinforces our vigilance," Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier said.

Military officers requested to be identified by their first names only for reasons of security.

Specialized units have been mobilized for the operation that involves deployment of high-tech technology such as drones and sonars, as well as combat divers, boat intervention groups, patrols along the Seine and military dogs. Water barriers going from the riverbed to the surface have been installed to prevent any intrusions into protected area.

In addition, the battalion is using counter-drone systems and works in close coordination with the French Air Force, which secures the Paris skies, Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier said.

The military "is ready to respond to any type of threat" that may be underwater, on water, on land or in the air, Captain Quentin, who is commanding a company of the 13th Demi-Brigade of the Foreign Legion, said.

Troops aboard rapid boats "are able to intervene at very short notice, to any type of threat, to cross the Seine in a matter of minutes and rapidly deploy for deterrence or to take action on site," he said.

A special anti-terrorism perimeter for the opening ceremony will start being implemented Thursday. Protected areas along the Seine have a special legal status, making them off-limits to the unauthorized public.

Staff Sergeant Sofiane, from the 132nd Canine Infantry Regiment, said his 3-year-old dog, Stimo, is trained to detect intruders and would alert him by barking.

In case of an intrusion the staff sergeant could order Stimo to attack and neutralize an intruder, either hitting the person with a very rigid muzzle or attacking without the muzzle.

With France soon to be in the world's spotlight, the Olympics security mission is a unique experience for the soldiers, and even a chance for some to discover Paris.

"They have the feeling that they are there for something special," Captain Quentin said. "And they’re all the more vigilant and ready for the occasion."

When Will the Manchester United Cycle Stop?