Two defeats in the opening three matches of the Premier League campaign have prompted calls for Erik ten Hag to be relieved of his duties – just three months after INEOS affirmed their faith in the Dutchman.
Indeed, Manchester United have picked up where they left off in the league last term; an opening day win over Fulham, which was far from a convincing victory, glossed over the cracks akin to May’s FA Cup final triumph, which was the match that led Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co. to decide to stick with the manager.
Shoddy defending at the Amex saw the Reds fall to a late 2-1 defeat against Brighton and Hove Albion, with Ten Hag being outclassed by 31-year-old head coach Fabian Hurzeler. Meanwhile, last Sunday’s defeat to Liverpool was nothing short of a cushy three points for Arne Slot and his men. As a result, United entered the international break in 14th place.
Treble winner Teddy Sheringham weighed in on the affairs currently taking place at his former club and revealed that he doesn’t expect to see Ten Hag still at the helm by the festive period.
Ten Hag is just ‘not good enough’, says Sheringham
“When you’re finishing eighth in the Premier League, that’s quite clearly not good enough for Man United. Full stop. End of story for me. You’ve got to change what’s going on,” he told Ladbrokes, as cited by Mail Sport.
“When you look at the inconsistency of last season, and that has followed on, without a shadow of the doubt in the first three games of this season… you can see there’s been no change whatsoever.
“Different players, maybe. But still no change in the philosophy, and the way Erik ten Hag wants to play. Look, I don’t want to see people getting sacked. It’s not nice to say that people shouldn’t be in certain positions, but he shouldn’t be there. It’s not good enough for Man United.
“Do I think the manager will be there at the end of the season? No, I don’t. I think he’ll be gone by Christmas.”
Agree with Teddy, as do, I suspect, the majority of United fans. The Cup win clearly was an outlier – not collective pennies dropping – as the play that day has not been seen since. And don’t be fooled by the recent show of support from INEOS – having spent the summer considering options before announcing EtH was staying – they’ll be aware they’d look a bit daft pushing him out after 3 matches. But you can guarantee feelers are going out, contacts are being made.