Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Graeme Souness has ripped into Manchester United for already failing to help Erik ten Hag in his tenure as the Red Devils lie bottom of the league after just two games.
Ten Hag would have been expecting a strong start to proceedings in the league after a strong pre-season saw them beat the likes of Liverpool 4-0 and record other victories along the way.
However, with losses to Brighton and Brentford in the Premier League – including a 4-0 drubbing at the hands of the Bees – United currently sit bottom of the Premier League and could fail to climb the table when Jurgen Klopp’s men visit on Monday evening.
Ten Hag already seems beleaguered in his attempts to fix the crisis at the club after failing to land his key targets, although that should be beset by the imminent signing of Casemiro in the coming days.
Yet Souness believes his days could be numbered already, with the Scot claiming that Ten Hag is already in ‘self-preservation mode’, claiming that the Dutchman does not get a free pass at Old Trafford.
“When Erik ten Hag arrived at Manchester United this summer, I was encouraged by his early noises, about him being a disciplinarian. It seemed all measured and correct,” Souness told the Daily Mail.
“Now, after a couple of bad results, he sounds to me like someone who has gone into self-preservation mode.
Very quickly his tone is negative – he’s not getting much help, he’s not got the players he wanted, the players have to take responsibility. It’s like, ‘I’m looking after my own backside here’. I would be concerned by that. You don’t get a free pass.
“When you’re out spending money – and the signings so far have been his picks – that free pass shrinks in the wash. Time is not your friend.
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“It is too strong and too early to say the job is beyond Ten Hag, but he has come from Ajax, the biggest club in Holland, and is now manager of arguably the biggest club in the world. It is a whole different ball game, different expectation, different pressure.”