Manchester United: Pundit explains why Ten Hag is 'the most deluded PL manager' | OneFootball

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Following two wins and three losses in their opening five games, Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United are having a fairly torrid start to the season. Ten Hag now faces an uphill battle to turn the tide, and with pundits, spectators, and even his own fans beginning to turn against him, things aren’t looking promising for the Dutch coach.

But now in a recent clip, pundit Craig Burley has labelled Ten Hag as “the most deluded manager in the Premier League”, even citing several examples to prove his point. In this article, GIVEMESPORT has decided to look into each incident to determine who is right.

With Wolves trailing 1-0 in stoppage time, despite dominating the game, Pedro Neto whipped in a cross in the direction of Craig Dawson and Sasa Kalajdzic. Spotting the danger, debutant keeper Andre Onana rushed out of his goal and clattered into the big Austrian striker. At first glance, the collision looked, at a minimum, suspect, but referee Simon Hooper allowed play to continue and waved away any penalty claims. VAR had a long look at the incident, but somehow the on-field decision stood, and the penalty is not given.

Per BBC, Ten Hag seemed to agree with the on-field decision: “After the opponent touched the ball, he dived in, so it was the judgement of the officials, and lucky for us, no penalty. I think you can debate it, but I think no penalty.” Following the game, Jon Moss, the direct manager of Premier League referees, spoke to Wolves manager Gary O’Neil and admitted there had been a mistake, with chief refereeing officer Howard Webb also personally acknowledging the error to O’Neil.

Marcus Rashford “dive” against Nottingham Forest

Following two early goals from Nottingham Forest, United clawed their way back to draw level, when in the 76th minute, Marcus Rashford was brought down in the penalty area by Danilo to win a spot kick. Club captain Bruno Fernandes scored the resulting penalty from the spot and United ended up running out 3-2 winners, but should the penalty have been given?

This one has stirred debate among pundits and fans across the country, with Martin Keown blasting the England international for going down too easily. On BBC’s Final Score, the former Arsenal defender said: "For me, there's no way that is a penalty,” before continuing: "It's a dive. It's a blatant dive from Rashford. Any contact is from when Rashford brings his leg up as he dives."

Former Premier League striker Chris Sutton also decided to join in on the pile-on, branding Rashford a cheat, stating: “You might call it clever. I call it cheating. Rashford dived, referee Stuart Attwell fell for it, VAR Robert Jones did not intervene, Bruno Fernandes scored and Forest lost,” per The Daily Mail.

In slowed-down clips of the incident, the contact on Rashford does look minimal, however, there is undoubtedly contact on the forward's thigh and the England international is clever to win the penalty. It’s certainly up for debate, but it was never going to be overturned.

Hojlund penalty shout against Arsenal

With the game tied 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium, Rasmus Hojlund picked up the ball and darted into the Arsenal penalty area with Gabriel in close proximity. The Dane shifted the ball past the Brazilian international and was then bundled over by the centre-back. The referee waved away very small appeals from the United players, which on reflection, was probably the right decision. It would've been VERY soft to give a penalty.

Speaking about the incident after the game, however, Ten Hag was convinced his side should've been given a spot kick, saying: “It was then a penalty on [Rasmus] Hojlund,” finishing his rant with: “It’s so clear and obvious.” However, having taken a closer look at the incident, it’s clear to see that both players were grappling with each other, with Gabriel just proving too strong for the Dane. We’ve certainly seen them given, but it would have been very soft. In this case, Ten Hag doesn’t have much to complain about.

Garnacho offside against Arsenal

With the game still tied at 1-1 heading into the closing stages, Alejandro Garnacho was released on goal and slotted the ball beyond Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale to seemingly give The Red Devils a surprise lead. However, after a lengthy delay, the goal was ruled out by VAR, giving Arsenal the impetus to score two quick goals and run-out 3-1 winners.

Feeling hard done by, Erik ten Hag said this on the incident: “We needed a little bit more luck to win the game. It was not offside [for Alejandro Garnacho’s goal]. It was the wrong angle.”

Out of all the incidents discussed, this is arguably the biggest reach from Ten Hag. Despite the decision looking tight on one angle, Garnacho is quite clearly offside. VAR has had its issues, but this is not one of them.

Hojlund’s disallowed goal against Brighton

With Manchester United losing 1-0 at home to Brighton, Rashford picked up the ball and drove towards the byline, pulling it back for Rasmus Hojlund to tap into the net. The new striker at Old Trafford then sprinted off to celebrate his first goal for the club, however, following closer inspection, the ball seemed to have rolled out of play before Rashford cut it back, and the goal was once again disallowed by VAR.

Burley cites this as an example of Ten Hag’s delusion, however, it seems to be coming more from Manchester United fans. According to Manchester Evening News, one fan wrote: "This is insane, how can they rule it out when they don't have a picture from above the ball? Disgrace," with another writing: "This camera isn’t right on the line which has the goal line going right to left. The line behind the ball is moving left it looks like from where the camera is."

Again, the evidence suggests that, although close, the ball had gone out of play and VAR made the correct call. Do you agree with Craig Burley’s opinion that Ten Hag is deluded? Or do you think the Manchester United manager has reason to feel hard done by?