This season, Man Utd has dropped three of its first five Premier League games, including Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Gary Neville, a former captain of Manchester United, worries that Erik ten Hag, who has presided over a sluggish start to the season, could follow in the footsteps of previous post-Sir Alex Ferguson managers.
Three of Ten Hag’s team’s first five games this season have ended in defeat as Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, and Brighton and Hove Albion all defeated them to the furthest extent possible. The Dutchman had a successful Premier League start, getting the Reds back into the Champions League and taking home the Carabao Cup.
There was hope Ten Hag might advance and move United forward before the season began. However, the sluggish start has raised concerns that future managers would fail in a similar manner.
Neville worries that underlying problems would stymie any development even though he thinks it is too soon to condemn Ten Hag. On his Sky Sports podcast, he stated: “I don’t think Erik ten Hag will change in terms of his job on the field, and the reality is that many good managers have encountered obstacles at Manchester United over the previous ten to twelve years since Sir Alex Ferguson left.
I’m hopeful that this is just a trying start to the season and not a replay of the difficulties faced by [Jose] Mourinho, [Louis] Van Gaal, [David] Moyes, and, certainly, [Ralf] Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, in prior campaigns. I thus hope that this is not the start of that.
No intelligent Manchester United supporter I am aware of is more upset with Erik ten Hag. Actually, what they want is a change in ownership, stability, and a devoted set of players.
“I don’t believe the guys are disinterested. Just how wonderful are they, I wonder. That worries me.
“Due to their manager’s preferences regarding recruitment, the club has been pulled from pillar to post during the last ten or eleven years from a sports perspective. And it has done so once more.
Jose brought in the players that he wanted, including [Romelu] Lukaku and [Paul] Pogba, and Van Gaal chose a very technical sort of player, including a lot of left-footed center backs and left-backs and other similar players. These are Erik ten Hag’s guys; these are the ones he wanted.
Everyone who they wanted to bring in has been brought in. I believed that this time, Manchester United would be able to recruit a group of players thanks to a more robust sporting concept being developed behind the scenes.
“However, Manchester United once more enabled the manager to have a say in who they sign, and that worries me about the organization. At the absolute top, they are powerless.
