Erik ten Hag insists he’s not Harry Potter – but Man Utd boss shouldn’t need a magic wand to beat struggling Southampton

United do not have the best record at Southampton. Sir Alex Ferguson’s great side lost on three consecutive trips to their previous stadium, The Dell, during their heyday of the 1990s, and United have only won five of their last 10 visits to St Mary’s. But in their current state, the Saints are ideal next opponents for the Red Devils to kickstart their season.

Southampton gained promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking under manager Russel Martin last season and gained plaudits for their attacking style of play. But, rather like Burnley in 2023-24, they have been given a shock on their return to the top-flight. The Saints have lost all three of their matches and their adventurous style has been ruthlessly exploited.

Four of the five goals they have conceded have come from errors playing out from the back, with the other coming from a long throw. They played with a one-man advantage against Newcastle for 62 minutes after Fabian Schar was sent off, had 78 percent possession and 19 shots, and yet still lost 1-0, to a goal gifted by a clumsy pass from goalkeeper Alex McCarthy.

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  Dying by the sword

  Two weeks later, Southampton signed Aaron Ramsdale, who immediately took McCarthy’s place for the trip to Brentford. But the former Arsenal favourite had a hapless debut, as he was at fault for each of the opening two goals and was weak for the Bees’ third strike, too.

  In keeping with the Harry Potter theme, boyhood Saints fan Ramsdale dressed up as Hagrid to watch Southampton in the play-off final against Leeds in May, and then wore the same outfit when he was unveiled as a Saints player in August. He and Trent Alexander-Arnold even used to have ‘Harry Potter marathons’ while rooming together for England youth internationals.

  Southampton are certainly not conjuring any magic at the moment, though boss Martin is intent on sticking to his principles. “I will live and die by the sword, I know that,” he said after the defeat at Brentford. “But I’d much rather do it this way and actually enjoy some of the moments the team gives me.”

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    Low expectations

    At least Martin is aiming high. Ten Hag’s lowering of expectations might be understandable from his point of view, and he has been keen to point out that he inherited a real mess when he took charge of United in 2022, talking of “a no-good culture” among the dressing room.

    He has had three summer transfer windows to sort it out and been allowed to spend £587 million ($767m) on new recruits, including £250m ($326m) alone on players he has previously worked with at Ajax.

    But he still seems unsatisfied with his situation and before the start of the campaign he claimed United were not ready for the campaign to begin. Ten Hag does think that, with time, things will improve and has asked to be judged at the end of the season, pointing to the fact that his side finished third in 2023 after a horror start and ended the last campaign clutching the FA Cup.

    “Just the third game in the season, we have to build a new team. I explained this so many times, we will build it, we have young players and players to build in,” he said. “We will be fine. It is clear we have to improve, but at the end of the season I am confident we will have a big chance to lift another trophy.”

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    Ronaldo’s rebuke

    Ten Hag’s low bar, and the fact he ruled United out of the title race for this season as early as last April, has been questioned by Cristiano Ronaldo, who had a fractious relationship with the manager in their four months together at Old Trafford before the Portuguese left United.

    “If you are Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League,” Ronaldo told his former United team-mate Rio Ferdinand. “You have to say ‘listen maybe we do not have that potential’ but you cannot say that. You have to try. This club needs time to rebuild because it’s still one of the best clubs, but they need to change and they understand that it’s the only way.”

    There was also a little jibe at Ten Hag’s biggest achievements with United, the Carabao Cup triumph in his first season and lifting the FA Cup last season, from the Al-Nassr forward, as he added: “They have to rebuild from the bottom. If not, they cannot compete, it will be impossible. They can do good things, yes, they can win the Carabao Cup, but I mean the Champions League, Europa League, Premier League (are) difficult. I wish that I’m wrong, but it will be difficult.”

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      ‘In transition period’

      Ten Hag seemed unfazed by Ronaldo’s comments and responded by pointing to the fact that the Portuguese is far from the club now and seeing out his career in Saudi Arabia. But he also continued with the same old discourse, pointing out that his side were still in the embryonic stage and suffering from injurie in what was a familiar refrain from last season.

      “We’re in the transition period, we have to integrate a lot of young players in the team. We have to bring the injuries back in the team,” he said. “Before anyone thinks about excuses, we have to win every game, I know that, the team knows this. We will focus on every game and have the mindset we have to win.

      “We will see where we are in May. It is very early in the season and it is about winning trophies, being as high as possible in the league, do everything to win every game. Of course, when we see the scores nobody is happy. But the players have a very good sense of the process. We are in a good position, but we have to improve and we have to step up.”

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      Win, or Azkaban awaits

      Talks of processes and transitions rarely excite fans, but Ten Hag is very clear about how he can develop the team and improve results. He did so in his debut campaign after a disastrous start of twin defeats to Brighton and Brentford. Indeed, United visited Southampton in the fourth game of that season and left with a 1-0 win which gave them a platform to build upon.

      They need to do the same again on Saturday, but do not expect new signing Manuel Ugarte to be in the starting line up. Ugarte was unable to play against Liverpool as his signing was not registered in time, leaving United to rely on Casemiro, which had disastrous consequences.

      Ugarte is available on Saturday, but he was the last player to return to training as he was in World Cup qualifying action with Uruguay against Venezuela on Tuesday, and Ten Hag had warned after the Liverpool game that Ugarte, like all new signings, would have to be slowly integrated into the team and not thrown in at the deep end.

      The coach took the same approach with Casemiro two years ago, giving him 10 minutes off the bench at St. Mary’s. That strategy eventually paid off as the Brazilian soon developed into one of United’s most important players of the season before his dramatic drop in performances.

      Ten Hag is unlikely to wave his wand with Ugarte on the south coast. His views are grounded in reality, and sometimes that might make him sound pessimistic. He would argue that his methods eventually pay off and lead to trophies. But what is indisputable is that United’s season must pick up and they have to win at Southampton. Otherwise Ten Hag will be the next prisoner of Azkaban.