As the Manchester United faithful – and players – continue their FA Cup celebrations into Bank Holiday Monday, the club hierarchy are getting down to work on making a final decision over Erik ten Hag’s future.
Indeed, senior chiefs at Old Trafford are seemingly unconvinced by the Dutchman’s suitability to lead the Red Devils to glory long-term, presumably in the Premier League, where he has failed to mount a challenge for the title in his two seasons as manager.
What goes in Ten Hag’s favour, of course, is that he has now claimed silverware in two successive campaigns. This time around in the FA Cup, United were drawn a tricky route to the final, facing Liverpool in the quarters and the previous holders of the trophy, Manchester City, at the last hurdle.
Fans and pundits were taken aback at how perfectly executed his game plan was for Saturday’s tie, with City looking like a shadow of the side that we’d seen throughout the majority of the term.
However, an eighth-placed league finish – United’s lowest on record in the Premier League era – fourth-round Carabao Cup exit and crashing out of the Champions League prior to Christmas turned plenty of Ten Hag’s backers in doubters.
As such, Fabrizio Romano revealed this morning that ‘internal talks start today’ between club directors and the INEOS team, adding that there are ‘crucial days and hours ahead’ in the managerial saga.
