What the pundits are saying on Ten Hag’s Man United future

Erik ten Hag is facing calls to be sacked as Manchester United manager immediately, after their 4-0 thrashing by Crystal Palace on Monday night.

The Dutchman’s future is under severe scrutiny after a poor season in which the Red Devils are eighth in the Premier League, were knocked out of the Champions League before the knockout phase, and are underdogs in their upcoming FA Cup final clash with local rivals Manchester City.

There are many who feel that he could be replaced at the end of the season, though reports have suggested that United won’t sack before the FA Cup final, though players ‘already believed his fate is sealed’. 

But with Manchester United approaching the final in a poor run of form with just one Premier League win in their last seven, there are some former players who feel that the club’s owners can’t wait until the end of the season to get rid of the Dutchman.

Mail Sport takes a look at what pundits have been saying on the Ten Hag question, and namely who thinks he should stay, and who believes his time is up at Old Trafford.  

Michael Owen – Sacked immediately

The former Liverpool and Manchester United striker believes Ten Hag is not the right man for the job and feels that the club’s board might have to make a decision immediately,

Following United’s defeat to Crystal Palace, he told Premier League Productions: ‘I’ve said it for a long time that Ten Hag is not the right man for the job. He simply cannot manage the club next season.

‘But I almost wonder now, they’ve got a cup final and some important games that could mean European football next year or not, and at some point you have to make a decision.

‘They are going to get absolutely hammered by Manchester City, they will get annihilated. Arsenal will smash them to bits at Old Trafford, Newcastle will probably beat them and I wouldn’t even fancy them going to Brighton, they might not get anything out of the rest of the season if they are playing like that.

‘I just wonder with so much at stake, even though it’s for four games, I wonder whether the board might just have to do something here and now and be radical about it.

‘But he simply cannot manage this team next season he’s not good enough.’

Owen like the next pundit, also called for Steve McClaren – Ten Hag’s assistant – to be placed as caretaker until the end of the season.  

Paul Scholes – Sacked immediately

The legendary United midfielder appears to have changed his mind over whether Ten Hag should stay or leave Old Trafford. 

Like Owen, the humiliating loss at Selhurst Park has had a big impact on his thinking, and he said that the game felt like the ‘final nail in the coffin for the Dutchman.

He said: ‘I felt for a while he (Ten Hag) might get another year and work for a club that has calmed down a little by the new owners but it doesn’t feel like that now. 

‘I thought who is out there to replace him? With Thomas Tuchel saying he’s leaving Bayern Munich, I don’t think that creates a bigger problem for him (Ten Hag) as the problems are there anyway, I think it’s quite plain to see that he’s on borrowed time.

‘Sometimes you get those moments where you think this is the end. I remember Ole Gunnar (Solskjaer) at Watford away, 4-1, it felt very similar to me, it felt like the end.’ 

Scholes then suggested McClaren, who was assistant for a period of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford, should become interim boss until the end of the season.

He described McClaren as the best coach he worked with during his playing career. 

Jamie Carragher – Sacked

The Sky Sports pundit said that Ten Hag couldn’t have any complaints if he was sacked following their loss to Crystal Palace.

He ripped into United’s performance, stating: ‘This is one of the most poorly-coached teams in the Premier League. It’s not an opinion, that’s a fact.

‘I get that (the backline was unavailable), I understand, your performance level will drop and your results will not be as good when you miss your best players, that’s obvious.

‘But Erik ten Hag needs performances. You’ve got to make us believe there’s something there or working to something. If he was to lose his job, I don’t think he could have any complaints.

Carragher hasn’t gone as far to say Ten Hag should leave immediately, but has repeatedly given the belief that the Dutchman will be forced to leave Old Trafford.

After their penalty shootout win over Coventry to reach the FA Cup final, he said: ‘I think that result there has cost a United manager his job. I don’t see how he stays, I don’t.’

He added: ‘If you were at the top at Manchester United, what is it about the situation watching this team, the manager and his personality that would be making you think he’s taking us forward next season?’

Gary Neville – Stay

The former Manchester United star is one of few who believes Ten Hag should stay into next season, believing he should remain in post while minority owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS make significant changes. 

He told Sky Sports: ‘What I read was that there’s no doubt that Ineos coming in provides an opportunity for Manchester United, but it also provides some vulnerability in the sense that you can see the changes that they’re making all around the club.

‘He’s almost last man-standing when it comes to the senior people in the club. The CEO has gone, the interim CEO has gone. The CFO has gone, the technical director has been moved and the sporting director’s gone.

‘In the next couple of months, obviously, Manchester United will make a decision on Erik ten Hag for next season but I felt more certain, you know, I said a couple of weeks, I hope he gets another season to sort of prove and said the same with Mauricio Pochettino at Chelsea.

‘United fans don’t turn on the manager and I felt that he would be in a position to stay one more year. Look some of the performances have been really poor and unforgivable at times, you think of what happened in the semi-final against Coventry. Some of the performances in the league that we’ve seen have been terrible.

‘I do feel that giving Erik ten Hag one more season will definitely work for Ten Hag I think the fans to be fair wouldn’t have a problem with it. And I think even for INEOS to allow them just to bed into the club and not have to think about replacing a manager in the next couple of months.’

Graeme Souness and Alan Shearer  – Sacked

There are some who feel that the decision over Ten Hag has been made some time ago. 

After United’s win over Coventry, Souness said that a decision would have been made behind-the-scenes before the penalty shootout win.

The Mail Sport columnist told talkSPORT: ‘He wouldn’t keep his job. I think that their minds were made up not long after Sir Jim Ratcliffe came in.

‘I don’t think it’s about this season. I think it’s about the season beyond and the overall quality of player that they have there and the manager has spent some money. You look at Marcus Rashford and he looks like a shadow of the boy who was there last year and that comes down to the manager.

‘The manager’s job is to get the best out of the group of players he is working with and right now you would say that’s not happening at Man United. I’m not calling for him to be sacked but I think they made their mind up a month ago.’ 

His comments were echoed by Alan Shearer, who said on the Rest is Football Podcast: ‘I think the future of the Manchester United manager is already determined. Even if they win the FA Cup I think he’s gone. I don’t think it matters whether they win the FA Cup for his future.

‘That may be sad, that may be wrong but I just get the feeling that winning the FA Cup is not going to be enough for him. When you look at the players, when you look at the attitude, where they are in the league and all those things: Where they want to be, where they want to go, in a quick time I think he’s already gone.’

Rio Ferdinand – Jury’s out

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand wants to see how the season finishes to decide on whether Ten Hag is the manager for the future. 

He made the comments before the recent 1-1 draw with Burnley and 4-0 loss to Crystal Palace.

Ferdinand says that Ten Hag needs to finish the season strongly and win the FA Cup.  

He told BeanymanSports: ‘I think it depends on how the season finishes now. If you go back to last season I was so optimistic and I am looking forward to the new season and Erik ten Hag is the man. 

‘But injuries, loss of form to players or whatnot, it has not gone well this year.’

He added: ‘We need to see the team finish in a lot better state than it is now, for them to say ‘he’s the guy for next year’.

‘He’s been in four finals in four years so he knows how to get to the finals but we need him to win this.’

Teddy Sheringham – Sacked

Treble winner Teddy Sheringham urged that changes need to be made ‘sooner rather than later’ as he called on the club to sack Ten Hag.

Though he doesn’t do much punditry work, Sheringham regularly speaks out on how United are doing and gave a brutal assessment of Ten Hag.

He told Genting Casino, as per the Mirror: ‘If Manchester United win the FA Cup, will it give Ten Hag a stay of execution? I suppose it probably would, but, for me, looking at this long-term, I think changes are needed and Manchester United need to get it done sooner than later.’

‘If your leader, the manager, is not leading in the right way, other people follow that standard. Ten Hag isn’t leading from the front.

‘I know he’s had some difficult decisions to make with certain players, but for some reason he just doesn’t come across with the personality required to take Manchester United forward.

‘He doesn’t have the personality. It’s all a little bit dreary. He’s trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the journalists when he says that the club are doing well and controlled the game – what game is he watching? It’s delusional. 

‘He’s giving out the wrong vibes as the leader of Manchester United.’