Former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke says it’s an “enormous” week for under-fire manager Erik ten Hag and believes the Dutchman needs two wins to keep his job.
Manchester United have back-to-back away trips this week, starting with FC Porto on Thursday night before travelling to Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Multiple reports suggest from the mainstream media claim Ten Hag has two games to turn things around, although there is a feeling that the October international could be when the axe falls.
Yorke didn’t hold back when assessing United’s latest defeat at the hands of Tottenham.
As a player who played under Sir Alex Ferguson in a great Treble-winning side, Yorke told Prime Casino he couldn’t get his head around the lack of effort shown by Ten Hag’s team. He blasted the players for their lack of desire and commitment.
“It was hard to watch, hard to take. You know you’re going to win and lose in football – and not very often would we lose at Old Trafford – but the problem is the manner of the defeat. Three goals against Liverpool, three against Bournemouth at home, and now three against Spurs. These are teams that would find it very difficult to come to United and get a point, let alone three. It’s hard to get your head around it. The biggest thing is the lack of conviction, the lack of work ethic. People talk about identity, and you can go into more detail, about your methodology and all those fancy words, but you have to show desire and earn the right to win football matches. That’s what always stuck with me from my time at United.So yeah, it is very hard to comprehend and to get your head around it. And for me, the biggest thing, like I said, you know, we win and we lose football games at times. But the lack of conviction, the lack of work ethic, You know, people talk about your identity or whatever and you can go into more details and your methodology and all of these kind fancy words.”
Yorke added: “When I joined, you had to match the opposition for effort because we knew then our talent would shine through. If we’re not matching them for desire, effort, work ethic, you’re never going to win. It was clear on Sunday we were lacking in those departments. We didn’t look fit. We didn’t press. There was no energy whatsoever. It looked like we were playing with no idea about what we were supposed to do when we were in or out of position. Those are two fundamental things I find disturbing.”
Stating that Ten Hag has two games to save his job at Old Trafford, Yorke hints that the trip to Villa could be the manager’s last game if it doesn’t go to plan.
“The record shows that United always get the better of Villa at Villa Park, but I think the shoe is now on the other foot. I think that Villa will be very, very confident. This could be the deciding factor for Erik ten Hag, too. I think it’s at that stage where Ten Hag cannot afford to lose. The distraction would be that we play Porto in the Europa League, and then the attention is quickly back on the Premier League, and with that comes enormous scrutiny on the back of such a heavy defeat against Tottenham. Villa Park is not the easiest place to go and get a result, and I’m not sure he’ll be looking forward to this. It could end really badly for him this week if he does not get the players back to doing what they should, in terms of digging the club out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves. This is enormous. I think this could make or break him at United to be honest.”
Stretty News verdict
It says everything you need to know that we are having this conversation just two months into the new season.
Erik ten Hag’s side have failed to improve on results and the performances aren’t much better.
United look a bit more solid defensively but we’re not taking our chances in front of goals. As we seen last season, you don’t win football matches if you don’t score enough goals.
Ten Hag is walking a tightrope and I don’t think two wins this week will change anything in the long run. It may just buy him a bit more time.
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