Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, wants nothing more than to keep his job. The winter transfer window closed on Thursday, and he was left with the same team that isn’t working well because of injuries, illnesses, and uneven form. United was in seventh place with 35 points after 22 games and a goal difference of -4 going into this weekend’s games. Ten Hag is trying to please Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who recently bought a 25% stake in the team.

Ten Hag’s Premier League season is quickly becoming more dreadful than David Moyes’s 34-game league reign in 2013–14. As of April 22, that season, United had 57 points and was in seventh place. The Scot was fired. At the end, they had 64 points, 22 less than the winners, Manchester City.

On Sunday, United will host West Ham. With 1.59 points per game, they are on track to end with 60. At least Moyes got some help in the winter when Chelsea’s Juan Mata joined for a club record £37.5 million. In January, United did not have enough cash on hand for any cheap loan deals. This is in contrast to January of last year, when they got Wout Weghorst from Burnley, Marcel Sabitzer from Bayern Munich, and Jack Butland from Crystal Palace.

Kobbie Mainoo’s 97th-minute winner at Wolves gave United a tҺrilling 4-3 win, but it came after they let a two-goal lead slip for the second game in a row, following Sunday’s 4-2 FA Cup win at Newport County.

Ten Hag, who was worried, said, “We should have handled things better.” It’s the story of the season, and it’s clear that the team is split up.

André Onana, the first-choice goalie, was shaky again at Wolves. He has lost too many points this season, and his private jet trip to the Africa Cup of Nations the day before Cameroon’s first game seemed to highlight how ridiculous his season has been. He didn’t play against Guinea because the plane had to stop three hours away. Onana was dropped for the rest of the event after making another mistake in the next game, which was against Senegal.

At least one United player, Onana, doesn’t know how to get to the treatment room because it’s so crowded. Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Diogo Dalot, Tyrell Malacia, and Luke Shaw are the four full-backs who have been hurt. Lisandro Martínez, Raphaël Varane, Victor Lindelof, Jonny Evans, and Harry Maguire are the five center-backs who have been hurt. Ten Hag must be wondering if any players, besides Shaw and Martínez, are good enough for where he wants to take United.

The center also needs major repair. Mason Mount has been missing a lot because of two unclear conditions, and his 12 starts have not been very good. Sofyan Amrabat, who was on loan, hasn’t played well, and Christian Eriksen, who turned 32 on Valentine’s Day, has had trouble with his knee. He has also been sick, like others.

Casemiro, the club’s second-highest earner, isn’t the same player he was last season and just got back from an ankle ιnjury. Ten Hag’s opinion of Scott McTominay was clear from the fact that he was for sale in the summer. Donny van de Beek’s bad four years led to his second loan move, this time to Eintracht Frankfurt. After 10 games, Ten Hag decided that Hannibal Mejbri could also play somewhere else until the end of the season: Sevilla.

Bruno Fernandes, who is United’s best player, and Mainoo, who scored at Wolves after scoring in the FA Cup at Newport, are two bright spots. However, the forward unit is still a work in progress, which is not ideal at this point in the season.

Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho, Antony, Anthony Martial, Alejandro Garnacho, Facundo Pellistri, Amad Diallo, Mason Greenwood, and Rasmus Højlund are the nine forwards who are ready to play. Rashford, Sancho, Antony, and Greenwood are the four players who have been involved in problems off the field. Greenwood, Sancho, and Pellistri are the three players who have been loaned out.

Rashford wasn’t picked for the Newport game because he missed training the previous Friday because he was said to have been partying in Belfast until the wee hours of the morning. He has set up five goals and scored a sixth. Antony wasn’t able to play in seven games in September because he was given time off to deal with claims about his personal behavior, which he rejects. The goal at Newport was his first of the season after 23 games. The reason Greenwood hasn’t played for United since January 2022 is well known and has nothing to do with football. He has a one-year deal with Getafe.

Sancho came on as a replacement three times in August, playing a total of 76 minutes. He then left Manchester City for Borussia Dortmund in January for the rest of the season after a figҺt with his boss. Two months ago, Pellestri, a 22-year-old average player, went on loan to Granada for a second time. He had not scored in 14 games, and Amad had only played once, for 36 minutes in a loss at Nottingham Forest on December 30.

Martial has scored two goals in 18 games for United this season, which is his eighth. He will be out for about three months after surgery on his hip. Garnacho has scored five goals in 30 games, while Højlund, who cost £74 million this summer, has scored nine goals in 27 games.

Ten Hag is partly to blame for United’s problems because he is in charge of the team’s style and oversaw the signings of Antony, Onana, Casemiro, Malacia, Mount, Evans, Amrabat, and Eriksen. He also complains about the way United is managed in games. Though it’s not clear how long Ratcliffe will do this, he may still think about all the things the boss has had to deal with and give him a break.

Ten Hag’s fate depends on a group of players who have only won back-to-back Premier League games twice this season. They need to stay healthy until the next transfer window. He needs to start making this record better against West Ham.