As the 2023-24 season approaches its midpoint, it is apparent that Erik ten Hag has been unable to alleviate the ongoing, persistent pressure associated with his position in the Old Trafford dugout. Following his inauguration as United’s manager in April 2022, the Dutchman has overseen the completion of 79 games. Despite the club’s ongoing efforts to attain full recognition and prestige, there have been sporadic instances of increasing optimism throughout that time period.

United are sixth in the Premier League with 12 games played, five points outside of the Champions League berths and four points behind Aston Villa. Despite recent lackluster performances in the Europa League and the League Cup, their domestic record has exhibited an exceptionally consistent pattern, to the extent that they are the current division leaders in form.

While Ten Hag may still encounter skepticism from certain supporters, a number of encouraging statistics exist that may assist in mitigating the tension. Indeed, they might even convince some individuals that his tenure at Old Trafford thus far has been more than mediocre, contrary to initial impressions.

1. Ten Hag is accruing board points

Since the start of October, Ten Hag has amassed an unprecedented twelve points from his last five Premier League matches, which includes a streak of four victories and one defeat. This sum surpasses that of every manager in the highest division.

During the same time frame, Jurgen Klopp has led Liverpool to eleven points, which is the closest they have come to matching Ten Hag’s recent total. In contrast, Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta have amassed a combined ten points while coaching Manchester City and Arsenal, respectively.

2. Ten Hag is performing better than both Klopp and Arteta

In his first 50 Premier League matches as manager of Manchester United, Ten Hag has amassed a greater quantity of points than Jurgen Klopp did in the early phases of his tenure at Liverpool.

The Dutch coach has accrued 96 points from his initial fifty percent of English Premier League matches, which is four points more than his Germán counterpart over the same period. Moreover, this figure is considerably greater than the 75 points accumulated by Mikel Arteta during his inaugural 50 matches in charge of Arsenal.

3. Ten Hag is performing better than every other United manager

It is noteworthy to mention that Ten Hag presently possesses the highest win percentage among Manchester United managers, although he has not quite achieved the heights of success that have come before him.

Ten Hag holds the unique distinction of being the sole permanent United manager to have guided the club to 30 victories in 50 top division contests. This surpasses the records that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, David Moyes, Jose Mourinho, and Louis van Gaal each held. In fact, the current manager has accumulated 50 victories in 79 games as United’s manager across all competitions, for an aggregate win percentage of 62%. This surpasses the previous final record held by the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson, which stood at 60%, by two percentage points.

Fergie oversaw an astonishing 1,476 matches during his twenty-year tenure with United. Of those, 884 were victories, including thirteen Premier League titles, five FA Cups, four League Cups, and two Champions Leagues. However, anything can be proven using statistics.

4. Manchester United are circling the goals under Ten Hag

United secured back-to-back Premier League victories over Luton Town last weekend on the strength of a decisive strike from Swedish defender Victor Lindelof. Lindelof not only scored the game’s lone objective but also accumulated United’s twelfth goal of the season.

In contrast, United had a total of twelve unique goal scorers concurrently (as of November 13) throughout Ten Hag’s administration, suggesting that a certain level of consistency has been upheld with respect to the assortment of goal sources employed.

Furthermore, this represents a slight enhancement in comparison to the 2021-22 season, wherein United had only ten active individual scorers by mid-November under the guidance of ex-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who was removed from his position within the same month.

Although the possibility is acknowledged, it may also highlight the lackluster performance of Manchester United’s attack during the first quarter of the 2023-24 season; Marcus Rashford is the only recognized forward to have scored in the Premier League thus far.

5. Ten Hag is one of the most successful modern United managers to date

Ten Hag has added to the club’s glittering trophy case regalia, notwithstanding the fact that United are still a significant distance from regaining their former aura of dominance. During his first season at Old Trafford, the Dutchman accomplished a noteworthy feat by finishing third in the Premier League, runner-up in the FA Cup, and champion of the League Cup. These outcomes marked the conclusion of a comparatively prosperous inaugural campaign.

Having amassed the same number of trophies as Louis van Gaal (one FA Cup), he is now one of the most successful coaches for the club under Fergie since his tenure commenced. Three and a half years have passed since the conclusion of Alex Ferguson’s successful tenure at the club; since then, only Jose Mourinho has accumulated more trophies, having won the Europa League and the League Cup.