The controversial defeat to the Irons was the Red Devils' ninth loss in 16 Premier League games in the city, another blot on the Dutchman's copybook
Saying that all Manchester United fans come from London is one of the most tired and unfunny jokes in football. But the Red Devils' recent record in the capital is no laughing matter and is another argument against Erik ten Hag continuing in charge for much longer.
Sunday's infuriating defeat at West Ham was the ninth time United have lost a Premier League away game in London under Ten Hag, and the next time they head there to face Arsenal in December, it will have been more than a year since they have tasted victory in the city.
United headed down to the London Stadium just three days after their dull draw against Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce in the Europa League. Ten Hag aptly described the noise at the Sukru Saracoglu Stadium as a "hostile" atmosphere, and visiting West Ham at the home of the 2012 Olympic Games should have felt like a stroll in palatial gardens by comparison. However, despite dominating the first half and creating five glorious chances, United succumbed to a familiar fate, losing 2-1 after a baffling penalty was awarded to the hosts in added time.
United’s poor away form has been a theme of Ten Hag’s time in charge, be it in the Premier League (17 wins from 43) or in Europe (four out of 11, and one win in their last eight). But even set against that backdrop, their record in London is diabolical.
Getty Only winning at Fulham
Since Ten Hag took charge in the summer of 2022, his side have visited London 16 times and they have only won twice, both times against Fulham. And it is worth noting that those two victories at Craven Cottage were courtesy of stoppage time winners, from Alejandro Garnacho and Bruno Fernandes respectively.
Ten Hag's excellent first season, in which United finished third in the Premier League, was built on the backs of their impressive home form. They took 48 points out of a possible 57 at Old Trafford, leaving them with the second best home record in the league behind champions Manchester City. Their away record was far worse, although it was by no means atrocious. They took 27 points on the road, leaving them fifth in the away table. But even in that otherwise positive season, there were eight away defeats and some highly concerning results, above all the 7-0 trouncing by Liverpool.
That worrying run of away results began in London as Brentford thrashed United 4-0 in Ten Hag's second game in charge. The poor away form was not limited to their trips to London but they fared very badly in the capital, losing at West Ham and Arsenal in addition to Brentford, while drawing at Tottenham, Chelsea and Crystal Palace but beating Fulham, giving them a return of six points from a potential 21.
Advertisement(C)Getty ImagesFive defeats from seven
United took exactly the same amount of points away from home last season as in 2022-23, and the fact that they had their worst finish in the Premier League was instead down to their drop-off in home results, taking 33 points, the eighth highest in the league.
But their record in London was even worse as they took four points from their seven games, scoring just six goals and conceding 16. They lost their first two trips of the campaign to Tottenham (2-0) and Arsenal (3-1) and then to West Ham (2-0) just before Christmas, although they did beat Fulham 1-0 in November thanks to Fernandes' late strike from outside the box.
They took just one point from their three London games after the turn of the year, drawing 1-1 at Brentford by conceding in the 99th minute and then letting a 3-2 lead at Chelsea turn into a 4-3 defeat after conceding in the 100th and 101st minute. Their final trip to London against Crystal Palace was their worst of the campaign as they were hammered 4-0.
AFPGrave mistake
Strangely, United ended the season on a high when they returned to the capital for the FA Cup final at Wembley and staged a stunning 2-1 win over Manchester City.
United began to consider sacking Ten Hag after the embarrassing defeat at Selhurst Park, leading them to speak to a range of candidates from Kieran McKenna to Thomas Frank and Thomas Tuchel. The win at Wembley changed the minds of United chiefs, leading to Ten Hag being given a third season and an extension of his contract until 2026. That now looks to be a grave mistake, with United making their worst start to a Premier League season by taking eight points from their first seven games before easing the pressure on their manager ever so slightly by beating Brentford last weekend.
The uninspiring draw at Fenerbahce, which Jose Mourinho mischievously but not without reason said had been kind to the visitors, raised further questions about Ten Hag’s management style. Fielding Noussair Mazraoui as an attacking midfielder was a baffling call and it has risked further alienating Amad Diallo, who looked furious when he was brought on in the last few minutes after being overlooked in favour of Antony.
Getty Images SportIdeal opponents?
The defeat at West Ham was not on Ten Hag, however. The Red Devils dominated the first half, with Alejandro Garnacho missing two excellent chances and Diogo Dalot responsible for the worst miss of the season. The manager was also justified in protesting the harsh penalty call for a soft challenge by Matthjis de Ligt on Danny Ings.
And yet, the fact remains that his side were facing an out-of-sorts West Ham, whose own coach Julen Lopetegui was also facing huge pressure after an unconvincing start to the season. And they succumbed to yet another defeat, their fourth in nine Premier League games, leaving them with just 11 points and all the way down in 14th in the table, sliding below West Ham.
The Irons went into the fixture in an even more rotten state than their visitors after taking eight points from their first eight games, with Lopetegui looking like a downgrade on David Moyes. West Ham decided against renewing Moyes' contract last June after feeling that they weren’t going anywhere under the veteran manager, despite three top-10 finishes in four years, and three exciting European campaigns including winning the UEFA Conference League. But they looked to be going backwards under Lopetegui.
Lopetegui might have felt like a more glamorous option than Moyes given his experience with Spain, Real Madrid and Sevilla as well as a solid season with Wolves, but he had been struggling to get a tune out of his squad despite spending £120m ($155m) on players over the summer. West Ham were stinging from a 4-1 defeat by Tottenham in their previous outing, their third defeat against a 'Big Six' opponent after losing 3-0 at home to Manchester City and 3-0 at home to Chelsea.
And they would have been on the end of a similar scoreline had United been able to take their many chances.