Erik ten Hag has been told by a close friend that he should have walked away as Manchester United boss over the summer, while also coming clean on why he thinks it is a “miracle” that the Dutchman remains in the Red Devils hot seat.
The Manchester United manager is clinging on to his position by a thread after a seriously underwhelming start to the season that has already resulted in three defeats from their opening six Premier League matches to leave them 13th going into this weekend’s fixtures. Their blowing of a 2-0 lead against FC Porto on Thursday night in the Europa League did not do Ten Hag any favours and a poor result on Sunday at Aston Villa could prove his final act in charge.
Ten Hag has been under serious pressure for close to a year now and he was very much on the chopping block towards the back end of last season before a surprise victory over Manchester City, coupled with United’s failure to attract a potential successor, saw the Dutchman earn a new contract through to the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
However, Ten Hag’s close friend, Leon Ten Voorde, has branded it a “miracle” he is still in the job and having urged him to quit the role following the cup final success at Wembley.
“I advised him to leave last summer,” Ten Voorde said on the De Ballen Verstand of TC Tubantia podcast.
“He won the FA Cup, so you leave through the front door.
“He’s had a lot of injuries this past year. But then trainers think: ‘I can turn things around’.
“How long does United think this can go on? That question is now hanging over United and Ten Hag again.”
Asked about his current mindset amid growing speculation the axe will fall, Ten Voorde concluded: “In general, he is calm and relaxed. But I can’t imagine that this leaves you completely unaffected.”
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Despite multiple sources claiming the sack could arrive some time next week, Ten Hag is adamant he can still around the club’s flagging fortunes.
“We will get there. Don’t judge us in this moment. Judge us at the end of the season.
“We are in the process and we will improve. We are now two seasons where we achieve finals. We have to develop and progress this team…
“We will work and we will continue and we will fight. You see the spirit and the connection between the staff and the team. Between the players, together, there’s a strong spirit.
“We want to achieve and we are in that [same] direction. We have that mentality and spirit-wise, but especially in some defending parts, we have to step up.”
Nonetheless, minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe refused to back Ten Hag’s regime when questioned on the Dutchman on Friday.
As a result, it is our understanding that the British billionare is ready to try again and convince Thomas Tuchel to take on the hot seat, having failed in an approach for him over the summer.
Ratcliffe met with the former Chelsea and Bayern boss in Monaco in the days that followed their FA Cup triumph in May. And while it was reported at the time that United decided to stand by Ten Hag instead, it is our understanding that the German actually rejected them, having made it clear that he did not feel the timing was right and that he instead wanted to take a break from the game to recharge before his next appointment.
A second approach though is now likely in the hope they can persuade him to change his mind. A failure to land on the 51-year-old will see the club instead look for an English coach, with three men on their list.
Either way, any appointment is likely to be for a coach currently unattached and with compensation costs needed to remove Ten Hag from his position expected to cost £16m.
Merson makes worrying Slot comparison / Gary Neville dead against Southgate
With knives sharpening for Ten Hag, Paul Merson has made a worrying comparison between the beleaguered United boss and his fellow Dutchman Arne Slot.
Slot has worked miracle since his appointment as Liverpool boss, winning eight of nine matches at the time of writing. Now Merson has exposed a seriously worrying difference between the two coaches that pretty much sums up the mess Ten Hag currently finds himself in.
Another strong critic of his regime is Paul Scholes, with the legendary midfielder becoming pretty well known for his constant (some might say justified) bemoaning of the Ten Hag era.
Scholes has now claimed United have ‘regressed’ under the 54-year-old, making a worrying comparison himself to both the trajectories of Liverpool and Arsenal across the same period.
Elsewhere, Gary Neville has explained exactly why he is wholly opposed to the potential appoinement of Gareth Southgate as United manager.
The former England boss is understood to be one of the candidates to step in if the axe falls on Ten Hag, but Neville has got to great detail to explain why he would be a bad choice by the Red Devils.
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