Legendary Manchester United player Gary Neville has presented a compelling argument that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS group have already decided what will happen to Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag is getting a lot of heat again after United’s defeat against Fulham over the weekend. The Red Devils were defeated by goals from Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi , with Harry Maguire scoring the lone goal for them.
Beyond the outcome, there was much to be desired in the way the defeat was handled. At Old Trafford, United’s lackluster play made it relatively simple for the Cottagers to win.
Neville and Jamie Carragher talked about Ten Hag and if he’s the appropriate guy to lead United forward in light of his recent setbacks and errors during their Monday Night Football discussion.
The former Liverpool player started off by saying: “At the moment, Erik ten Hag’s future is probably in the air – will he stay? My feeling is that Manchester United need to make a decision on the manager very quickly. The reason why I say that is because right now, Liverpool, Barcelona and Bayern Munich all know that they’re in the market for a new manager.”
“At this moment they’re speaking to agents and setting up meetings with those [managerial targets as well. If Manchester United don’t feel Erik ten Hag is the man to take them forward, are they going to be left behind the longer they leave it [not making a quick decision on Ten Hag]. Do you think they have to make a decision quickly in terms of whether they need a new manager?”
Neville joined the conversation by saying: “If you look at the guy that’s coming in from Man City, the CEO and then obviously they’re looking to get Dan Ashworth in from Newcastle, they’re [United] are going to make a decision very quickly if they’ve not already.”
“I suspect that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford already know whether they’re going to keep Erik ten Hag as manager next season and I can’t believe they’re going to wait until May to make that decision and then leave themselves short.”
Neville added: “Where Manchester United have been found out in the last 10 years is recruitment on and off the pitch – which is making poor decisions, late decisions, not being ahead of the game. I don’t think they’re going to do that, so for me, I suspect they’ve already come to a conclusion already.”
The 49-year-old concluded by stating that Ratcliffe and his team will not waver from their position, whether United qualify for the Champions League or not.
In addition, he criticised the way his old team played against Fulham, saying they appeared to be at a loss for ideas and strategies.
The Sky Sports analyst went on to say that United have not grown from their failures and are running into the same issues.
Neville admitted that Ten Hag will be expected to do much more by the club’s new administration than just produce results. Additionally, performances must meet the required standards.
The Dutch manager has failed to get the best out of the players and even though he would use the excuses of injuries to key players this season, some of the results and performances even with the players available at his disposal have been really disappointing and not worthy of a club like Man United.
