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After Manchester United’s wretched December, where is Erik ten Hag at as 2024 begins?

作者：Andy Mitten

翻译：海绵叔叔666（微博）

What a wretched end it was to a year that started so brightly for Manchester United.。

对于曼联来说，这一年的开端是如此光明，但结局却如此糟糕。

Erik ten Hag’s side went into 2023 in form and in four competitions: Manchester City were defeated in January, Barcelona in February and a first trophy in six years was lifted that month thanks to a Carabao Cup triumph over Newcastle United. The season concluded with a third-placed finish in the league, two cup finals and a home record which included an unbeaten run stretching back to September 2022. United lost nine Premier League games last season. They had already matched that by the time 2023 became 2024.

滕哈格的球队在2023年初状态爆发四线出击：1月份击败曼城，2月份击败巴塞罗那，在联赛杯战胜纽卡斯尔，曼联举起了6年来第一座奖杯。22-23赛季结束联赛排名第三，两次进入杯赛决赛，主场战绩自 2022 年 9 月以来保持不败。曼联上赛季输掉了9场英超比赛，但等到2023年结束，这半年来他们就追平了22-23一整赛季的失败场次。

Looking back, the signs were there during pre-season in the United States as players grumbled in private about too much training and too little free time.

早在美国的季前赛期间，球员们就私下抱怨训练太多，空闲时间太少。

I didn’t want to see the signs; in fact, I considered it a positive that the manager was pushing them hard, considering United had gone into the previous season unprepared and had lost their opening games against Brighton and Brentford. And if they were only moaning about too much training, it was better than griping about too much commercial activity, as per previous trips.

我不想看到这些信号; 事实上，我认为主教练不断得鞭策球员是好事，曼联在上个赛季季前准备得不好，连续输给布莱顿和布伦特福德。如果他们只是抱怨太多的训练，那总比抱怨太多的商业活动要好，就像曼联以前的季前赛旅行一样。

During an interview with Lisandro Martinez in Las Vegas, he gave an invigorating answer when discussing the team’s prospects. “I have a good feeling,” he said. “There’s an incredible energy in this team, a big ambition, a strength, a hunger to win titles and taste glory. Honestly, we feel like a team and not just the players. I’m including the kitmen, the doctors, the trainer and his staff. We’re all working at 100 per cent and we’re conscious of the club we’re at. We’re fortunate to be at one of the best clubs in the world. We’re thankful for that and we will work, work and then work some more… (It’s realistic) to win every single competition we enter.”

在拉斯维加斯利马接受采访时，他在讨论球队的前景时给出了一个令人振奋的答案。“我感觉很好，这支球队有一种不可思议的能量，一个雄心勃勃的目标，一个力量，一种赢得冠军和品尝荣耀的渴望。老实说，我们感觉自己是一个团队，而不仅仅是球员，还包括装备管理员、队医、教练和他的工作人员。我们都在100%地工作，我们清楚曼联意味着什么。我们很幸运能加入世界上最好的俱乐部之一。我们对此表示感谢，我们将努力工作，工作，然后再工作......赢下我们参加的每一场比赛这不是幻想。

Others were less convinced. While on that tour, I did a Q&A with former striker Brian McClair and we were asked to predict where United would finish this season. I said third with more points than last season and McClair, who also headed up United’s youth system until 2015, laughed at me.

但有些人则不太相信。在美国的时候，我与前曼联前锋麦克莱尔（2015年之前一直在负责曼联的青训）进行了对话，我们被要求预测曼联本赛季的成绩。我说曼联会获得起码第三或更好的名次，他嘲笑了我。

“Between fifth and seventh,” he countered. “And that’s if United get lucky with injuries.”

他反驳道：“如果曼联在没有严重的伤病的情况下，会在第五到第七之间。“

McClair is widely respected, but I thought he had a touch of the former-employee syndrome. It is common for disgruntled former members of staff to get in touch after leaving United and they’re usually raging with injustice and talk of how bad things are now compared to how they used to be. Then you speak to people at the club and get a totally different view. Where does the truth lie?

麦克莱尔广受尊重，但我认为他有点前雇员综合症。心怀不满的前员工在离开曼联后与人联系是常有的事，他们通常会忿忿不平，大谈与过去相比现在的情况有多么糟糕。然后你再与俱乐部的人交谈，就会得到完全不同的看法。两种意见谁是对的？

In results on the pitch, usually — and United’s results so far this season have been horrendous. Injuries are a major reason. Ten Hag was without 11 players at Nottingham Forest on December 30. But why are there so many injuries? That’s something new investors INEOS will look at.

从比赛结果看，曼联本赛季到目前为止的成绩是可怕的。受伤是一个主要原因。12月30日在对阵诺丁汉森林的比赛中滕哈格缺少了11名球员。但为什么会有这么多人受伤呢？这是新的股东英力士要关注的。

Manchester United are seventh and nine points off the top four after their loss at Nottingham Forest (Darren Staples/AFP via Getty Images)曼联在输给诺丁汉森林后排名第七，距离前四名有九分之差

But we can’t blame everything on injuries. United were bad right from the start of the season, battered at home by Wolves (yet won 1-0) despite Ten Hag playing his absolute strongest side of Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Martinez, Varane, Shaw; Casemiro, Fernandes, Mount; Antony, Garnacho and Rashford. United performed better but lost their second game, at Tottenham, 2-0. They were wobbling right from the beginning and suffered five defeats in the first 10 league matches of the season.

但我们不能把一切都归咎于伤病。曼联从本赛季开始就很糟糕，主场被狼战仅下风蜷取三分，尽管滕哈格排出了他的最强阵容：奥纳纳、万-比萨卡、马丁内斯、瓦拉内、肖、卡塞米罗、费尔南德斯、芒特、安东尼、加纳乔和拉什福德。曼联第二场比赛内容有进步，但是以0-2输给了热刺。赛季初他们的表现起起伏伏，前10场联赛中输了5场。

Little has changed since results-wise, though the injuries have got much worse. This is a team which struggles to score and to entertain. Luton Town have scored more league goals than United this term, from one game fewer.

伤病问题愈演愈烈，比赛的结果有变化，但是场面上基本没啥进步。球队踢的难看，进一个球难于上青天。卢顿本赛季的联赛在被曼联少赛一场的情况下，进球数比还曼联多。

Going out of the Champions League, with one win from six, was an epic failure. The chance was there to do something in Europe and, well, one win from six is one win from six. Even a third-placed finish in the group and Europa League qualification would have been a better-suited substitute since this side are not close to being Champions League winners. United finished bottom.

在欧冠中出局，六场小组赛仅仅一胜利，史诗般的失败。曼联本赛季还想在欧洲赛场有所作为，确是这个结果，连小组第三去欧联的机会都没有，直接小组垫底。

Ten Hag has picked his battles. Maybe he will be vindicated over how he has dealt with Jadon Sancho, for instance. Few fans will complain if the manager is proven right. They will usually side with the manager and the club over players, who are often seen as over-indulged and surrounded by people stroking their egos.

滕哈格不会投降。也许他在处理桑乔的问题上会得到平反。如果证明主教练是对的，很少有球迷会抱怨。他们通常会站在主教练和俱乐部一边，而不是球员一边。

Critics are not hard to find, though. Members of the United squad despise former players picking them apart on television every week, with the punchiest bits primed to go viral. Some of those pundits said they would never become pundits who did that, but the world turns and much of the criticism is legitimate. But is it fair? Is it fair for club legends to pick up on the failings of players who might be better paid than they were, but can’t touch them for talent?

批评者并不难找。曼联的现役球员鄙视前辈们每周在电视上对他们的批评，其中最尖锐的部分会在网上疯传。其中一些人曾经说他们永远不会这么刻薄，但是世界变了，很多批评成了合理的。但这公平吗？俱乐部名宿挑剔那些薪水可能比他们高，但才华却无法与他们相提并论的球员的缺点，这公平吗？

Ten Hag is the manager and managers are usually fired, especially at the biggest clubs, when results don’t suffice. Yet he is benefiting from a) an acceptance that he’s been dealt a tough hand with all the injuries b) a reluctance to change managers yet again c) stasis — because who would fire him anyway? It’d be a poor reflection on those who appointed him. He has also built credit with that excellent first season, and has a point when he says how tough the league is, with competition from state-funded rivals adding to the difficulty.

滕哈格是主教练，而主教练通常会在成绩不佳时被解雇，尤其是在大俱乐部。然而，他却得益于：a）人们承认他在伤兵满营的情况下遇到了困难；b）人们不愿意再次更换主教练；c）稳定性的角度--谁会解雇他呢？这对任命他的人来说也会是个打脸的事。他的第一个赛季表现出色，也为球队立下了汗马功劳，他说联赛有多艰难也是有道理的，来自国家资助的对手的竞争（译者：哈？曼城还是纽卡？）也增加了难度。

Should he benefit from history? Would it have been right for Sir Alex Ferguson to have been dismissed having finished 11th in 1989 and 13th in 1990, three and four years into his United tenure? Many supporters thought so. Should Sir Matt Busby have been sacked having finished 15th in 1962 or 19th in 1963? Or 11th in 1969 when United were European champions?

曼联的历史似乎能帮滕哈格说些话。弗格森爵士指教曼联三年和四年后，分别在 1989 年和 1990 年取得第 11 名和第 13 名的成绩，许多支持者都这么想：现在解雇他是否正确？马特-巴斯比爵士在 1962 年获得第 15 名或 1963 年获得第 19 名时应该被解雇吗？或者在 1969 年曼联获得欧洲冠军时获得第 11 名？

My understanding, from multiple sources who asked not to be named to protect their relationships, is that many players have lost belief and confidence. They have issues with the way the club has been run and several didn’t think the strategic review going on in the background helped.

我从多位不愿透露姓名以保护关系的知情人士处了解到，许多球员已经失去了信念和信心。他们对俱乐部的管理方式有意见，其中一些人认为正在进行的战略审查没有起到任何作用。

Comments like ‘he’s lost the dressing room’ are not accurate. All 25 players don’t think the same. Some are right behind the manager, others are not. The manager is entitled to have doubts about some players himself. Some have proved incapable of following his specific instructions on the field. Players have gripes, some of them legitimate, but all these negative views pile up — and dissipate in the glow of victories.

他失去了更衣室 "这样的评论并不准确。所有 25 名球员的想法并不相同。有些人支持主教练，有些人则不然。主教练本人有权对某些球员产生怀疑。事实证明，有些球员在场上无法听从他的具体指示。球员们有不满，其中有些是合理的，但所有这些负面意见都会堆积起来，并在胜利的光芒中消散。

There are further complications: players’ PR agents working briefings from their clients’ perspectives happens for individual benefit rather than for the good of the collective. This annoyed Ole Gunnar Solskjaer during his time in charge as he felt undermined by some of those he publicly supported, even if privately he had major doubts about them. And some of the PRs are really not in tune with the mood on the street. They think that because they have a United player as a client they’re dealing with peak Lionel Messi, not someone linked to a side struggling to string consecutive wins together.

还有更复杂的情况：球员自己的公关从其客户的角度出发，为个人利益而非集体利益发声。这让索尔斯克亚在执教期间很恼火，即使私下里Ole对有些球员有很大的怀疑，但是一直公开支持他们，而·这些人背后在捅他的刀子。他们的PR口径也往往和曼联不是一路的。他们（PR）认为他们的客户是曼联球员，和巅峰梅西一样牛逼，而不是与一支正在为连胜苦苦挣扎的球队里的一员。

The injection of capital and personnel from INEOS can’t come soon enough. Though the deal has to be ratified, Sir Dave Brailsford has begun working at United and he and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the INEOS founder, made a positive impression when they met staff at an Old Trafford meeting on Thursday. Brailsford wants to look under the bonnet at the components that make up his remit on the football side. There are heads of departments who are absolutely fine with that, confident that their areas are lean and mean and geared for success. And there are others who are coasting along and have more reason to worry. Brailsford needs to be ruthless — but then he, successful in cycling but without a significant track record in football, needs to prove himself and win the confidence of those staff.

英力士的资金和人员注入已经迫在眉睫。尽管这笔交易还有待批准，但布雷斯福德爵士已经开始在曼联工作，他和英力士创始人拉特克利夫爵士在周四的老特拉福德会议上与员工见面时，给大家留下了积极的印象。布雷尔斯福希望把俱乐部的运作从头到尾撸一遍。有些部门的负责人完全不担心，他们坚信自己的部门精干、高效，能够取得成功。而另一些人则是碌碌无为，他们需要小心了。（对付这帮混日子的人）布雷尔斯福德需要冷酷无情—虽然他在自行车运动方面取得了成功，但在足球方面却没有显赫的业绩，因此他需要证明自己并赢得这些员工的信任。

Sir Jim Ratcliffe, left, and Dave Brailsford, right, have been meeting Manchester United staff this week, including men’s first-team manager Erik ten Hag (Manchester United/Manchester United via Getty Images)吉姆·拉特克利夫爵士（左）和戴夫·布雷斯福德（右）本周会见了曼联工作人员，包括男足一线队主教练滕哈格

The strategic review that has led to this point has caused significant uncertainty among United staff and that has now become unease over what INEOS will do and what powers they will have. This has proved a distraction for some staff and, more subliminally, for players, undermining the authority of both Ten Hag and football director John Murtough.

当然战略审查在曼联员工中造成了严重的不确定性，现在这种不确定性已经变成了对英力士将做什么以及他们将拥有什么权力的不安。事实证明，这分散了一些员工的注意力，更潜移默化地影响了球员，削弱了滕-哈格和足球总监穆塔夫的权威。

United’s staff need to feel they are moving towards better times. The club is a major employee in Manchester and many of the staff are fans, yet they should also be put under pressure to perform.

曼联员工需要感觉到他们正在走向更好的时代。曼联的许多员工都是曼联球迷，但他们也应该承受压力全力以赴。

When Richard Arnold told staff that United were chasing down Manchester City only three months ago and that they should ignore what they read in the media, a sizeable number of those he was talking to simply didn’t buy it. And when Arnold, who challenged the Glazers on several fronts, made a farewell speech at the Christmas party in Old Trafford’s Manchester suite in December, a lot of staff carried on talking rather than listening to him.

三个月前，当理查德-阿诺德告诉员工们曼联正在追赶曼城，他们应该忽略媒体上的报道时，相当多的员工根本不买账。12 月当阿诺德在老特拉福德包厢的圣诞派对上发表告别演说时，很多员工都没有听他说话，而是在自行讨论一些事情。

You’re quickly yesterday’s man at United, another who gave it their best shot but left with a decent payoff and the words ‘Manchester United’ on the CV. That can be a blessing and a curse. At Old Trafford every misstep, every burned hot dog in the catering kiosk, is primed to go viral or be tabloid fodder since people love to beat the club with a stick. It’s a club where every win is overblown and every defeat is too — and where the negative does far better online than the positive.

（员工担心）自己很快就会成为一个曼联的过去式，成为另一个拼尽全力但离开时却得到了体面的回报的人，履历上还写着 "曼联 "二字。这是福也是祸。在老特拉福德，每一次失误，餐饮亭里每一个被烧焦的热狗，都会成为病毒式传播或小报的素材，因为人们喜欢diss曼联。在这家俱乐部，每场胜利都被夸大，每场失败也是如此，负面新闻在网上的传播效果远远好于正面报道。（联军威武）

I recently took a 30-second video at the start of training and uploaded it to social media without much thought. Then I watched in horror as 18 million people viewed it, delighting in the misplaced passes. There are millions who not only enjoy United being bad, but who also get excited about it. One fellow journalist told me that his editor told him: ‘Always lean into a crisis where possible.’ At least Ten Hag stays emotionally balanced amid this circus.

最近，我在训练开始时拍摄了一段 30 秒的视频，并不假思索地将其上传到了社交媒体上。然后，我惊恐地发现有 1800 万人观看了这段视频，并为曼联的传球失误感到高兴。有数百万人不仅喜欢曼联的糟糕表现，还为此兴奋不已。一位记者同行告诉我，他的编辑告诉他："尽可能把所有的事情往危机方向写“ 在这场滑稽戏里，至少滕哈格保持了宠辱不惊。

What is clear is that United need refreshing. New ideas, new people, new capital.

显而易见的是，曼联需要更新。新想法，新人，钱。

Too many players don’t cut it and United’s recruitment system simply has not been working.  Ten Hag’s signings looked promising a year ago, though the view would be a lot less flattering now.

太多的球员并不适合曼联，而曼联的引援系统也是一塌糊涂。 一年前，滕哈格签下的球员看起来很有希望，但现在看来就不那么乐观了。

“Erik totally misjudged the qualities needed to play in the Premier League,” one leading agent, speaking on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, told The Athletic. “I rate him as a coach but if he had an experienced sports director alongside him, like he had with Marc Overmars at Ajax, then he wouldn’t need to worry so much about the recruitment side of things. You have Pep and Txiki (Begiristain) at City, at United you have Erik and ?”

“滕哈格完全误判了在英超联赛中踢球所需的素质，”一位不愿透露姓名以保护关系的主要经纪人告诉The Athletic。“我把他评为一名教练，但如果他有一位经验丰富的体育总监在他身边，就像他在阿贾克斯的奥维马斯的合作一样，那么他就不需要太担心招募方面的事情。你在曼城有瓜迪奥拉和特西基（贝吉里斯坦），在曼联有滕哈格和？

We’ve kind of been here before. Indeed, when we started the United We Stand fanzine in 1989, the team were 10th in the table and we didn’t see a single league victory for 12 games. I laughed at that for decades and never thought we’d see a December as bad as 1989 again, when the team were defeated four times and didn’t win once.

我们曾经也经历这么糟糕的时刻，当我们在1989年创办United We Stand杂志时，球队在积分榜上排名第10位，我们在12场比赛中没有看到一场联赛胜利。几十年来，我一直在嘲笑这一点，从没想过我们会再次看到像1989年那样糟糕的12月，当时球队四连败，难求一胜。

In December 2023, United lost five games, though there were two wins. United haven’t lost five times in December since 1933, when the team were at the wrong end of the second division.

2023年12月，曼联2胜5负。自1933年以来，曼联在12月没有输过五次，当时球队还在二级联赛。

Back in 1989-90, when home attendances tumbled to 33,000 and expectations were lower, the first win UWS saw was in the FA Cup third round at Nottingham Forest. It was the game that saved Ferguson’s job and the team went on to win a first trophy in five years. The FA Cup mattered more in 1990, but United are out or have no possibility of winning three of the four competitions entered at the start of the season. Like then, the FA Cup is the only one left. The next game is in the FA Cup at nearby Wigan, where there will be a huge away following.

回到1989-90赛季，当主场观众人数跌至 33,000 人，人们对球队的期望值降低时，UWS（United We Stand杂志）见证的首场胜利是在足总杯第三轮对阵诺丁汉森林的比赛中。正是这场比赛挽救了弗格森的帅位，随后球队也赢得了五年来的第一个冠军奖杯。1990 年的足总杯相比比现在对于英国球队来说更加重要。现在曼联在本赛季开始时的四项赛事中，已经丢掉了3个。和那时一样，现在只剩下足总杯了。下一场比赛是去附近维冈客场进行的足总杯，那里将有大量的客场球迷。

The mood is low, and if Ten Hag’s team don’t start winning when he has his players back, I’d fear for his job. Like Ferguson in ’89-90.

球队士气低落，如果当伤员回归以后，滕哈格的球队还没有开始赢球，那他的帅位就很难了。就像89-90赛季的弗格森一样。