Erik ten Solskjaer?! Shambolic defending & frantic comebacks show Man Utd have not made desired progress under Dutch manager

It has been 21 months since United parted ways with Solskjaer, who fans loved for his contribution as a player and his commitment to the club. However, by the time of his sacking in November 2021, having won no trophies in nearly four years, almost everyone recognised that the Norwegian was a limited and inexperienced coach incapable of taking United back to where they belong.

Ten Hag, by contrast, is one of the most admired tacticians in Europe, with a track record of overseeing elaborate football and winning trophies. In just a few months in charge he ended United's six-year silverware drought by lifting the Carabao Cup, while he also took them to the FA Cup final and secured Champions League qualification at the first time of asking.

However, after a chaotic start to the season, which included fortunate wins over Wolves and Forest as well as a limp defeat to Tottenham, Ten Hag's United are showing many of the traits that Solskjaer's team were known for. They are making unforgivable mistakes defensively, players are not doing their jobs, and they are having to pull off dramatic escape acts. It might be thrilling to watch, but it is also deeply concerning.

While United fans were struggling to make sense of what they were witnessing in the opening minutes at Old Trafford, Forest fans were staging a party in the away end. In another throwback to the Solskjaer era, they were gleefully chanting "You're getting sacked in the morning" to Ten Hag.

Christian Eriksen's strike breathed life back into Old Trafford and then everyone believed the comeback was on. And when Casemiro equalised and Bruno Fernandes converted from the penalty spot, there was an air of inevitability about it all.

Some of United's best ever moments were comebacks, such as the 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 which paved the way for the first Premier League title win, or the three-minute turnaround against Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League final. Never knowing when they were beaten was a defining characteristic of Sir Alex Ferguson's many great teams.

However, if a team falls behind too often and epic finishes are routinely needed, it is rarely sustainable. United tend to average around three or four comeback wins per season in the Premier League era, but things got ludicrous under Solskjaer. In the 2020/21 season, United won 10 league matches after conceding the first goal, more than in any other campaign.

The Red Devils ended up finishing second in the league but the following season they picked up their lowest points total in Premier League history. Solskjaer was sacked four months into that dire campaign, following a 4-1 thrashing at relegation-fighting Watford.

A similar pattern can be spotted in United's second-best season as far as comeback wins are concerned. In the 2012-13 season, Ferguson's last in charge, United won nine matches from losing positions. They romped to the Premier League title then, but the fact they needed so many late finishes should have suggested there were deeper problems and the winning train was about to come off the tracks.

With almost an identical squad the following season under David Moyes, United had an utterly miserable campaign and came seventh in the table, their lowest-ever Premier League finish.

Under Solskjaer, United won a whopping 19 matches in all competitions from losing positions. And as the hero of the team's most famous comeback of all as a player - the 1999 Champions League final - the Norwegian coach revelled in each turnaround.

Take his response to beating Southampton 3-2 in March 2019. “The manner of it is like the old days. I have been part of that so many times myself and so pleased for the boys that they managed to claw three points out of this game." Days later, United pulled off perhaps the best result of the Solskjaer era, beating Paris Saint-Germain 3-1 in the last-16 of the Champions League to overturn a 2-0 home defeat in the first leg.

Even in the dying weeks of Solskjaer's time in charge, United were capable of pulling off comebacks. They turned things around to beat West Ham 2-1 with an 89th-minute strike from Jesse Lingard and enjoyed Champions League victories over Villarreal and Atalanta from losing positions, winning each time courtesy of late strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo.

Just one month into his second season, Ten Hag is developing his own reputation for comebacks. The Forest game was his seventh turnaround victory, following wins over Manchester City, Everton, West Ham, Fulham, Aston Villa and Barcelona.

The Dutchman, however, should be wary of his team needing too many comebacks. As Solskjaer found out, a team can only summon their powers of escaping tricky situations so many times before their weaknesses are brutally exposed.

Just four days after the miraculous turnaround against Atalanta, United hosted Liverpool and were humiliated 5-0 at home. In their next game they were outplayed by Manchester City and were lucky to only lose 2-0. After surviving three big scares as manager, Solskjaer's reign finally came to a brutal end following the crushing defeat by Watford.

Solskjaer's reputation as a manager capable of conjuring epic comebacks soon gave way to the image of a man with a knack of overseeing epic humiliations. The thrashings by Liverpool, City and Watford could be filed alongside the 6-1 loss at home to Tottenham, the 3-0 defeat at RB Leipzig which knocked United out of the Champions League, or the 4-0 thumping at the hands of Marco Silva's Everton.

Humiliating defeats are, unfortunately, another thing Solskjaer has in common with Ten Hag. Even though his debut season was one of United's best campaigns of the last decade, it was tarnished by some catastrophic defeats.

There was the 4-0 hiding by Brentford, the 6-3 thrashing by Manchester City, the 3-0 defeat by Sevilla and, worst of all, the 7-0 hammering by Liverpool, which was United's worst defeat by their greatest rivals in more than a century and their joint-worst result of all time.

The fixture list for this season has been kind to United, handing them home fixtures against relegation candidates in Wolves and Forest. But things are about to get a lot tougher. On Sunday Ten Hag's side visit Arsenal and immediately after the international break they host Brighton, who did the double over them last season.

Defeat in both matches is well within the realms of possibility, especially considering United lost away to every top-seven opponent last season and suffered defeat at Spurs in their first game away from Old Trafford this campaign. That would put Ten Hag in a very precarious position, especially after the club spent £211 million ($267m) last summer and more than £170m ($216m) this year to give the manager the squad he desired.

The Dutchman was hired to signal an end to the nostalgia that had characterised recent management of United: from keeping faith in Solskjaer, to bringing back Ronaldo. He has done many things right and commands the authority that many of his predecessors lacked, both with the club and with the squad.

But he will ultimately be judged by results. And given what his team have served up so far this season, he will be judged harshly unless things improve. More than ever, he needs to show that his team have moved on from the thrilling yet unsustainable football of the Solskjaer era and that they are truly going forwards, not backwards.