Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester United: What next for Erik ten Hag
Manchester United eased the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag with their goalless draw against Aston Villa in the Premier League.
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00:00Rich Fair here for Manchester World where it's a finish for Manchester United 0, Aston Villa 0 and Villa Park.
00:07In the end, well I guess it was a game of more positives than negatives for Eric Tempah.
00:12After a disappointing, to say the least, draw of Porto in midweek, it was another point today.
00:18But it was one that maybe offered a little bit of encouragement for him going forward.
00:23He resorted to a very defensive and dogged display.
00:26Four changes from the team that drew thrill.
00:28Porto, Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans both came in to central defence.
00:32Whereas Covino came in midfield and Alejandro Garnaccio started in attack.
00:38United's best performers were the defenders.
00:40Jonny Evans was a man of the match display.
00:42He rolled back the years with a no-nonsense performance in which he was the last line of defence for United at times.
00:50He didn't really have too much to do in the United goal.
00:52All in all, it was a very, very disappointing performance from both sides.
00:57Very lacklustre.
00:58United have now gone three Premier League games without scoring a goal.
01:02And while you might look at the positives of Diogo Dalot and Jonny Evans in defence,
01:06it was another game in which United offered absolutely no attacking threat.
01:10You might say the same about Aston Villa, but at least they beat Bayern Munich in midweek.
01:14Manchester United have not reached those heavy heights so far this season.
01:17The harsh reality is they are the second lowest scorers in the Premier League.
01:20They are 14th in the Premier League.
01:22The Ineos decision-makers were all here at Villapark today.
01:26Mr Jim Ratcliffe joined, Dave Brailsford, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox and Omar Berrada.
01:32What they saw today was a United team that can be resilient, that can be defiant and can grind out points.
01:38And of course, Aston Villa now, in this modern age, are a team where getting a point here is a decent result.
01:43Of course, they beat Man City and Arsenal in the same week last season.
01:47But ultimately, this is not a performance you can really build upon.
01:51United had to revert to a very defensive and disciplined style of play.
01:56Like we said, they offered absolutely nothing.
01:58And in their third season under Eric Ten Hag, they happen to be further down the line than they are right now.
02:04And going into the international break, well, it might be enough to ease the pressure on Ten Hag immediately,
02:09but the decision still looms.
02:11Do Manchester United stick with Eric Ten Hag?
02:13Is this enough of a foundation, really, for them to build upon for the rest of the season?
02:19Or do they act now?
02:20Is it going to be a proactive or a reactive decision of the manager?
02:24For now, Ten Hag might be happy with the point that he will feel his team gained rather than two points dropped today.
02:31But ultimately, it still feels that Manchester United are no nearer to where they need to be.
02:35Full-time from Villapark, Manchester United 0, Aston Villa 0.
02:39The pressure might be eased on Ten Hag for now, but for how much longer, it remains to be seen.