Manchester United are in danger of losing their grip on the Champions League places after Erik ten Hag’s men succumbed to back-to-back defeats in the Premier League.
Losses to Brighton and West Ham have put Liverpool within touching distance of the Reds and with four games remaining, United are just one point ahead of their bitter rivals. United do, however, have one game in hand on Jurgen Klopp’s men.
United’s form has dipped over the last six weeks but Ten Hag has maintained that their fate remains in their hands going into the final four games.
The former Ajax manager has insisted that United’s final placement will hinge on themselves rather than Liverpool closing in on them after they picked up some good form.
“Nothing changed, only we could have made it [securing a top-four place] easier when you have a win,” Ten Hag is quoted as saying after the 1-0 defeat at the London Stadium by the official Manchester United website.
“We need three wins in four games, so everything is in our hands and we have to believe.
“But it’s not about Liverpool, it’s about us, because look to the table and we have everything in our hands.
“If we bring our performance, if we bring our standards then we will win games, so we don’t have to look to others – we have to look to ourselves and find a way to win and find a way to get back to our levels.”
SN’s verdict…
Ten Hag has challenged his players publicly on a number of occasions in the last couple of weeks and evidently, it has done very little to arrest United’s decline.
A long season of relentless scheduling started to creep in prior to the international break but with roughly three weeks of the campaign remaining, United look legless and resigned to defeat in most games.
It’s absolutely paramount that Ten Hag finds a way to get his side back on track as another season outside the Champions League could have serious repercussions.
I get the ‘must be in Champions League’ narrative, I really do. Guess it might help some players to sign for us.
But I’m not ready to see us taking the field against yer Real Madrids, Barca’s, Bayern Munich and so on. Think ETH needs 1 maybe 2 more seasons. And if we don’t make it, at least anyone signing for us really wants to play for Manchester United – at whatever level.
ETH has really ballsed this season up. his ‘we have to win every game’ is looking rather stupid now as the players are clearly knackered and he has risked not qualifying for the CL cos of it – just proves what idiots united have in all positions.
his bosses should have told him to drop the 4 competitions and focus on league, instead the easiest season ever to get top 4 and this clown looks like he will miss out – when it was literally basically impossible to do so!
i called united not getting top 4 a while ago cos it was clear that united were exhausted and playing terribly. also does ETH know another formation? the guy is basically wally 2.0.
How, exactly, does one ‘drop’ a competition?
You mean select under-strength teams in the cups so we go out in first round? So no Carabao Cup then.
Let’s wait until season ends before judging. Most Reds would have been made up with a trophy and top four place – which still is achievable.
I consider ETH the ideal choice for us ( remember Sir Alex’s early struggles? ) and next season will prove that.
Provided he gets the support he needs in transfer market.
ETH spent the second most out of all managers last season – he has improved the team marginally after that outlay so i doubt he will get another 200m to waste.
and to answer your question, yes you play a weakened side, something that eddie howe did – cos he has the maturity and intelligence to see that the most important thing for newcastle was to take advantage this season as this is a one time opportunity – next season liverpool and chelsea will be better certainly.
lets see with regards to qualification for CL and see how fans feel should united end up with the league cup and no CL, with liverpool qualifying at uniteds expense (which will have serious repercussions for future planning). and all cos the manager misjudged the squad. i would like to point out thats his job – to manage the squad in order to achieve the set goals.