Erik ten Hag's Man United produced another freak show after finding chaos from comfort against Coventry... you'd forgive the Dutchman for deciding he's had enough, writes CHRIS WHEELER

From a position of comfort, Manchester United once again found chaos. From a nailed-on victory, they nearly suffered a defeat so calamitous you began to wonder if Erik ten Hag would get out of Wembley with his job intact.

Kevin Keegan once quit as England manager in the toilets here, and Ten Hag could have been forgiven for deciding that he has had enough of this United team and this basket case of a season if Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos cohorts didn’t take the decision out of his hands and end it right here.

Because although United lost control of this semi-final, Ten Hag’s hand was on the tiller again. His team, his tactics. Yes, he can talk about injuries and a ‘curse’ of penalty decisions, but this has happened too often on his watch this season to be a horrible coincidence.

The bonkers 4-3 results against FC Copenhagen, Wolves, Chelsea and Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup stand out as prime examples of games that have descended into madness this season, but there have been more. In fact, save yourself some time and look up the games that United have won comfortably, because it would be a lot quicker.

Now we can make another addition to the list of freak shows after Coventry City incredibly came from three goals down with little more than half an hour left to force extra-time and penalties.

But for Ellis Simms’ shot hitting the underside of the bar in extra-time and Haji Wright straying a few inches offside when Victor Torp scored in the 121st minute, United wouldn’t have even got to a shoot-out.

In that moment, Ten Hag stood motionless as his world collapsed and Coventry celebrated what they thought was an FA Cup win for the ages until VAR threw the Dutchman a lifeline.

United won the toss to have the shootout in front of their own fans, but the red half of Wembley – which had been muted from the start – even struggled to summon enough spirit to boo the Coventry takers as they stepped up to the spot.

A significant number of fans had left by the time Rasmus Hojlund converted the winning kick, and more empty seats soon opened up. Usually the victors stick around and the losers make a sharp exit, but on this occasion it was the Coventry fans who stayed to salute their sky blue heroes.

‘They were almost embarrassed to win at the end,’ said Roy Keane on ITV and he was right. If ever victory felt like a defeat, this was it.

Of course, Coventry deserve huge credit for dragging themselves back into this game but it should never have been allowed to happen.

Quite where it leaves Ten Hag remains to be seen. At Ineos, they have talked about the importance of beating Coventry and how different the picture would look depending on yesterday’s outcome. But this didn’t feel like a day when he walked away with any extra credit in the bank. Quite the opposite.

As if the high levels of achievement expected at United these days weren’t clear enough, Ratcliffe knocked off a quick personal best in the London Marathon before heading over to Wembley, crossing the finishing line just an hour before kick-off.

Marginally over four-and-a-half hours wasn’t too shabby for a man who turns 72 in October and has quite a lot on his plate.

Ratcliffe took his seat in the VIP box beside co-owners Joel and Avram Glazer with United two up, and then had to endure his second marathon of the day. It’s hard to say which would have felt more painful.

Also present was Jason Wilcox, making his first appearance since being appointed as United’s new technical director on Friday. The pieces are falling into place at United, and Ten Hag’s place in the new order looks more uncertain than ever.

Ineos are about structure, but all he’s giving them right now is stress. He can only hope that Ratcliffe and Co – Sir Dave Brailsford and Wilcox will soon be joined by chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth – can see beyond the chaos and sympathise with his problems this season.

United’s injury crisis meant that Casemiro had to play as an emergency centre-back here after teenager Willy Kambwala became the seventh defender to be sidelined. Harry Martial appeared to suffer a recurrence of a groin injury but soldiered on.

Marcus Rashford limped off just before the end of normal time and hobbled out of Wembley afterwards, while Scott McTominay’s first game back ended in similar fashion.

By the end, it was every bit as shambolic as United’s incredible 4-3 win over Liverpool in the quarters; players out of position, walking wounded everywhere, all semblance of a plan long since gone.

We thought we’d seen it all at Old Trafford then, but that’s the thing about Ten Hag’s United; they always find a way to make it hard for themselves, even when it means turning a cakewalk into a crisis.

By the time a breathless semi-final was all over, brave Coventry were finally beaten and Ten Hag had reached his third Wembley cup final in two seasons. Credit where it’s due. But another team in blue await on May 25, and it’s hard to see City not winning an all-Manchester affair for the second year in a row.

Already it’s starting to feel like that could be Ten Hag’s last stand.