NEIL MOXLEY

ERIK TEN HAG is on trial this afternoon – it’s judgement day.

That’s exactly how his new paymasters will be viewing today’s derby – and the Dutchman HAS to deliver.

If Manchester United are to flourish in future, they need to travel into the lion’s den at the Etihad and come out without a scratch on them.

Or at least not savaged to within an inch of their professional lives.

Ten Hag must come up with a way of showing he can plot a way forward with this supposed brave new world just over the horizon. The identity of the man who leads the club towards it will be crucial.

The Dutchman is pointing to the remaining years left on his contract as protection. We all know it’s nothing of the sort.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford will be stung if they have to sanction the estimated £15million payoff. But the chemical company chief knows if you are to build a stable product, you don’t mess about with combustible processes. And Ratcliffe hasn’t handed over £1.25billion to sort out the football side of the operation and not be prepared to make quick, decisive decisions. He isn’t going to blink at making a change. So, Ten Hag needs to come up with something, anything – to give Ratcliffe & Co. heart because his season is on the verge of implosion.

A midweek victory over Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup wasn’t especially deserved. It was a tie between two sides offering low-quality options going forward, settled by a set piece in the last minute.

Romping

In the next round, Jurgen Klopp’s farewell party needs a figure of fun to cap it off – and the sight of Liverpool joyously romping around Old Trafford, having dumped Manchester United out, will only turn a headache into a migraine.

That scenario will leave Ten Hag desperately hoping Champions League qualification stretches down to five teams – because one good week for Aston Villa and one poor one from the Red Devils could take Unai Emery’s men out of reach in fourth. It will be deserved, too, for both. None of this will have passed by any rational, detached thought process being carried on in the boardroom, where questions have to be asked.

Like, for instance, why is it that there are problems with anyone Ten Hag hasn’t signed?

Harry Maguire has stood trial in the court of public opinion. Jadon Sancho was shunted to Borussia Dortmund. Marcus Rashford isn’t playing with a smile on his face anymore.

Anonymous

Despite the matchwinner, Casemiro was awful at the City Ground. Anonymous. Antony was worth about £82. Not £82m.

Ten Hag has been front and centre of that recruitment – and there’s been hardly a murmur about their nonperformances. They are HIS players. He sanctioned both.

His only saving grace is the absence of any obvious replacement in the manager’s chair.

On Merseyside, Klopp is going. Within minutes, Xabi Alonso is installed as the frontrunner to replace him.

Why? The German has established an identity at Anfield. And Alonso is following that blueprint at Bayer Leverkusen.

Does anyone out there have any idea about Manchester United’s style of play? They’ll come up against a defined modus operandi this afternoon. Win or lose – and it’s mostly win – you know exactly what Pep Guardiola’s side will bring.

Ten Hag must be viewing Dan Ashworth’s impending appointment with dread.

Graham Potter may have failed at Chelsea – that was understandable with the recruitment chaos going on in the background – but they worked together at Brighton. All of a sudden, there may be a go-to option.

New decision-makers generally want their own men. That choice is made much easier by poor performance.

Ten Hag’s had a couple of years. Lifting the Carabao Cup and qualifying for the Champions League was progress.

But this season doesn’t feel like it and the stakes have now been raised.

He needs to come up with something to make people believe. Starting today.

New decisionmakers usually want their own men. That choice is made much easier by poor performance