He would have been better for the most part but end result would he similar, but with a lot of optimism that things will improve.
You don't just sack managers due to finishing outside top 4. You sack them because they show they can't improve even with signings. That's obviously not the case with ten hag. It's continual improvement with him. If we finish like shit, then we do the summer and build for next season with a squad more equipped to handle his needs. Because he has obviously shown a lot of great qualities, has shown he can implement a very good system but it is clear that it is certain individuals holding us back. You don't replace a manager when there are some positions holding us back. You replace the manager when it is clear they are the ones holding us back.
And no, judging by your posts you would love to see everyone shit on him and blame him instead of naturally blaming injuries and the previous disaster of a squad we had. The reason people endlessly hype ten hag is because he has shown everything required to be our long term manager, finally, after a decade of garbage from the club. So yeah. An injury crisis derailing our season doesn't stop that. You just move on, because he has shown he's worth sticking with and you know he'll get there.