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By Dan Tracey
The Red Devils arrive in Portugal still under the stewardship of manager Erik ten Hag and although the club’s board have gone on record to say the Dutchman’s future is safe in the short term, the same commitments have not been made past the international break.
The upcoming October pause in action could end up being the perfect time for United to change the current man in charge – that is of course if United’s next two performances against Porto and Aston Villa (at the weekend) are far from perfect.
Then again, if ten Hag can oversee victory in one of the two pre-break fixtures, in either Portugal or the West Midlands, it will buy the former Ajax boss time before the next crisis envelopes the Old Trafford outfit.
The ‘crisis’ in its current form accelerated after losing 3-0 to Tottenham on Sunday but was ignited after an indifferent performance in the opening Europa League matchday of the newly expanded format.
A 1-1 draw at home to FC Twente was far from meeting the expectations that would have been set by manager and supporters alike, and although United dominated metrics such as total shots and possession, they did not dominate the one metric that truly matters the most.
That point against Twente was still a point more than Thursday’s hosts managed from their own opening European exploits of the new season.
Vitor Bruno’s men went up against Bodø/Glimt and even though the Aspmyra Stadion outfit were reduced to 10 men after Isak Maatta’s sending off early in the second half, Porto’s Norwegian opponents were already well on their way to victory.
2-1 down with the numerical advantage on the field of play, soon became 3-1 to Glimt after Jens Petter Hauge’s second of the game and even though Deniz Gul’s injury time goal reduced Porto’s deficit to create a potential grandstand finish, that would be the last goalmouth action.
Now though, the team that currently finds themselves sitting second in the Liga Portugal cannot afford to be second best on Thursday but by the same token, defeat is the last thing that Erik ten Hag and his United cohorts need right now.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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