United stuck in 'purgatory' and facing only one way out

When one prominent football figure caught a glimpse of the Manchester United dressing room recently, they immediately recognised a scene they had seen from rival clubs. That was a squad that "doesn't know what next" and feels like it's "going nowhere". It isn't intentional, of course, but is a feeling that starts to grip a group when there's no sense of clarity.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

"It's like purgatory," was the phrase. That description is all the more apt, given how the 3-3 draw at Porto represented another back and forth, amid this widespread wonder over what the club will do with Erik ten Hag.

Only adding to the problems is that this situation is all too familiar to some of the players. Marcus Rashford has gone through this with four different managers. He's experienced the same sorry cycle, the way that the club tries to persevere despite mounting evidence pointing to one eventuality. The otherwise admirable support of United fans usually buys managers more time, so there is less pressure for the club hierarchy to act. That is until it reaches a point where the job - and usually the season is unsalvageable.

The unavoidable reality has been that, once a manager is in this situation, it is rare that they get out. That's all the worse when the open talk around the club is that he's "certainly safe for the next two games". We've now had one, at Porto, and it didn't offer much encouragement.

Yesterday, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe opted not to say whether he still had faith in the Dutchman. "I don't want to answer that question. I like Erik," he told the BBC. "I think he's a very good coach but at the end of the day it's not my call, it's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects.

"But the team that's running Manchester United have only been together since June or July. They weren't there in January, February, March or April - [chief executive] Omar [Berrada], [sporting director] Dan Ashworth, they only arrived in July. They've not been there a long time so they need to take stock and make some sensible decisions. Our objective is very clear. We want to take Manchester United back to where it should be, and it's not there yet, obviously. That's very clear."

So here we are again, where Villa Park represents another juncture.