The huge cathartic roar that greeted Amad Diallo’s winner in the final minute of extra time at Old Trafford nearly two weeks ago has finally begun to fade.
That dramatic 4-3 victory over Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-final allowed United to enter the current international break on a wave of optimism, with United fans rewatching Amad’s winner on a constant loop and from every conceivable angle.
This buoyant mood around Old Trafford has continued during the break with the remarkable impact United’s 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has made in his first two appearances for England against Brazil and Belgium.
Suddenly, United feel like a squad full of youthful talent, possibly on the verge of enjoying better days and casting off much of the gloom of this disappointing season.
But despite all the visceral emotion of that FA Cup win, very little has actually changed, and Erik ten Hag’s position as United manager remains under threat.
It is understood he still remains the master of his own destiny, and if he uses the win over Liverpool as a turning point to climb into the Champions League places and win the FA Cup he would almost certainly retain his job.
But if this proves to be another false down, and there have already been several this season, he is likely to be dismissed at the end of the season.
The situation with Ten Hag’s position remains fluid, and despite fierce speculation no final decision has been about whether he will be United’s manager for next season.
A further complication is that two of the men who will make the decision about Ten Hag’s future are not yet inside the building at Old Trafford; the club’s incoming CEO Omar Berrada is on gardening leave from Manchester City until the summer, and United are still negotiating with Newcastle United about appointing Dan Ashworth as their new Sporting Director.
It should be noted that United’s new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has never offered Ten Hag any assurances about his future and is waiting to see how this season finishes.
Ratcliffe’s INEOS group has already shown with the imminent arrivals of Berrada and Ashworth they want the very best people running the football departments at Old Trafford, and for most of this season Ten Hag has not looked the best manager.
Before the win over Liverpool, it had seemed more likely that Ten Hag did not have a future at Old Trafford, especially in the light of his side’s consecutive Premier League defeats to Fulham and Manchester City.
There is some sympathy with the unusually large amount of injuries his side has had to contend with this season, with over 50 individual absences during the campaign, which Ten Hag has highlighted as having disrupted United’s momentum.
Last season’s success was based to a large degree on the progressive abilities of Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw, who have missed most of this season, and Casemiro, who has also been absent for long periods and is now injured again. Without this trio, United have been vulnerable at the back and unable to control games.
But injuries alone do not explain United’s slump, which has seen them become unrecognisable from the team who beat Manchester City and Barcelona, and won the Carabao Cup in the first two months of last year.
Instead United have already lost a staggering 11 Premier League games this season and find themselves sixth in the table, nine points behind Aston Villa in fourth place.
Even when they have won United’s actual performances have often been poor, and playing without an obvious style they have struggled for goals, scoring just 39 in 28 Premier League games, and currently have a barely believable goal difference of zero.
United want a manager who is capable of ultimately winning the Champions League, but Ten Hag’s humiliating failure in the competition this season when he lost four times and guided his side to a bottom place finish in the group stages has also damaged his reputation.
INEOS ultimately want to see more evidence the confident and successful Ten Hag from his first season is still there and can make a comeback, and hasn’t been consumed by the timid version seen on the side of the pitch for most of this season.
One factor that could save Ten Hag is the lack of an obvious replacement on the market at the moment. United have been linked to the former Brighton manager Graham Potter, the outgoing Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel, the England manager Gareth Southgate and the current Brighton manager Robert De Zerbi.
It is not a list that hugely excites either INEOS or United’s own fans, and there remains a strong feeling within the club that with a new structure and new personnel around Ten Hag it could be worth persisting with him next season.
The Dutchman now has ten Premier League games and potentially two FA Cup games to persuade his new bosses he deserves another season at Old Trafford.
