After another howler of a performance from Andre Onana during the week, former Liverpool ace, Stan Collymore, was quick to point the finger of blame in Erik ten Hag’s direction.
The Man United manager has been under severe pressure of late, not helped by any of his summer signings who are arguably not good enough to pull on the red shirt.
Despite leading 2-0 and 3-1 against Galatasaray in a must-win Champions League group game, the Red Devils still allowed the Turkish giants back into the match, due in no small part to two massive errors from Onana.
“In terms of Man United’s record under Erik ten Hag, it’s poor. It’s all about winning, that’s the most important thing, performances don’t need to be cavalier,” Collymore said in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
“Do I think he’s the long term man for the club? I don’t. You’ve got to have the character or the personality of a Pep or a Klopp to be able to really assert influence over the club, something ten Hag has struggled to do.
“When you are a Manchester United manager and you run a football club that brings in Andre Onana, who is arguably worse than the outgoing goalkeeper, then that has to be on the manager.”
It isn’t just the capture of Onana that has got Collymore hot under the collar either.
Rasmus Hojlund was brought in this summer to lead the line at Old Trafford, but with no Premier League goals to his name, per WhoScored, the 20-year-old has arguably been an abject failure in the most important matches.
His five goals in the Champions League won’t count for anything if United are bombed out of Europe entirely should they fail to beat Bayern Munich in their final group game.
“Rasmus Hojlund at £70m is another. United were basically under pressure because Liverpool had got Gakpo, Man City had Haaland, Aston Villa had tied down Ollie Watkins… so all of a sudden Man United are like ‘we need a striker,'” Collymore added.
“Their recruitment has been absolutely dreadful and ultimately the manager has given the thumbs up to some of the players coming in when some of them are blatantly not ready to play for Manchester United week in and week out.”
Despite a horrendous 23/24 so far, there is a chance of redemption for ten Hag says Collymore.
“The only way ten Hag turns the corner is if he hangs his reputation on the next four or five signings doing the business for the club,” he said.
“If he does that and they become a success, then he gets the kind of power and gravitas at the football club that fans would expect him to have, and everybody goes ‘he’s got this,’”