SUMMARY
- In their last Premier League outing Manchester United lost 4-0 to Crystal Palace.
- United legend Gary Neville shared his thoughts on manager Erik ten Hag.
Erik ten Hag’s time at Manchester United has been nothing short of a nightmare. Fans and soccer pundits alike have criticized his playing style excessively as the results on the pitch haven’t been very encouraging. The team has recently suffered an embarrassing loss at the hands of Crystal Palace, which saw them go down by 4 goals.
The Dutchman has been pretty troubled by injuries and player scandals which have hampered the consistency of his team’s performances. ‘The Red Devils’ are set to miss out on the UEFA Champions League in the upcoming season which has fueled the rumors of Erik ten Hag departing from United.
Crystal Palace 4-0 Manchester United
A thrashing. pic.twitter.com/JwZBCWfDBx
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) May 6, 2024
Recent reports have also linked the Dutch tactician with a job at FC Bayern Munich. The Germans are bidding farewell to Thomas Tuchel after the end of the 23/24 season, and are looking for replacements. But many of their shortlisted candidates have declined Bayern’s job and therefore, the Bavarians find themselves in deep trouble.
Under such circumstances, Erik ten Hag might be the perfect fit for the job. The 54-year-old is quite familiar with the club himself, as he had previously worked in the club as a manager of the reserve team. Therefore, the links of Erik ten Hag to FC Bayern Munich, certainly make a lot of sense.
However, Gary Neville doesn’t believe that the Dutchman should leave ‘The Red Devils’ for FC Bayern Munich. He also requested the fans of Manchester United to be a bit more patient with their manager.
GARY NEVILLEEEEEEEEE pic.twitter.com/SvV7Hdm6da
— Frank🧠🇳🇱 (fan) (@TenHagEra) May 10, 2024
The former United player said, “I think we should stick with Erik ten Hag, give him one more season – particularly an injury-free season, we’ve had a lot of injuries this season. So I would say one more season would be worth it to see if we can get back to the standards of last season, where we won a trophy and finished in the top four and got Champions League football.”
Gary Neville has acknowledged that Erik ten Hag’s season has been fairly derailed by the multitude of injuries to the Manchester United players. Therefore, he believes the Dutchman deserves at least one more season at Old Trafford. However, the English pundit’s worst fear might become reality, as England manager Gareth Southgate is a hot name to replace Erik for the upcoming season.
Gary Neville doesn’t fancy Gareth Southgate as the new Manchester United manager
It has been reported that Manchester United’s new minority investors, the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-led INEOS Group don’t trust Erik ten Hag for leading the club’s project. INEOS Group has identified the England National Team’s manager Gareth Southgate as their trusted commandante for the job at Man Utd. However, Gary Neville does not feel the need for a change at this point and has provided reasons for the same.
Speaking on the ‘Stick to Football’ podcast, Gary said (via The Sun), “There’s no way Man Utd can wait until July, mid-July when pre-season has already started. They’ll look like they don’t what they’re doing. And there’s no way Gareth can announce before a major tournament that he’s going to Man Utd. It would create absolute (chaos), he won’t do that.”
Gary Neville believes that the upcoming Euro 2024 tournament won’t allow Gareth Southgate to think about his future properly. He refuses to believe that Southgate would make an announcement on his future during the build-up to such an important tournament. Moreover, Manchester United too would be reluctant to appoint a manager who is doubtful for the pre-season, due to his commitments with the National Team.
Gary Neville feels only an FA Cup win can save Erik ten Hag’s job at Manchester United now
Manchester United have the golden opportunity to save their season at last. ‘The Red Devils’ will face their cross-city rivals Manchester City in the final of the FA Cup 23/24 on May 25, 2024. The United players will have the chance to put their dismal season behind them by lifting the cup at Wembley Stadium. Especially for Erik ten Hag, this presents a chance to redeem himself in front of the Man Utd board.
And this is exactly how Gary Neville feels. He said (Sky Sports), “There’s nothing left to say about some of the league performances we’re seeing and some of the things we’re watching, the tweets and the likes, we’ve said it so many times before.
🗣️ "It didn't save Louis Van Gaal!"
Sam Wallace doesn't agree with Gary Neville's assessment that Erik ten Hag can save his job at Manchester United with an FA Cup win 🔴 pic.twitter.com/UrIi4aVyM6
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) April 21, 2024
“But what we can say is that Erik ten Hag’s future is largely dependent on the FA Cup, as their performances in the league are gone. They are not going to change, now what we are seeing is how they will finish the season it seems like the players have switched off away from home at times.”
However, it would be pretty difficult for ‘The Red Devils’ to gain a positive result out of the game. Manchester City are the defending champions of the tournament and will be the favorites going into the game. Moreover, ‘The Cityzens’ have had the upper hand on Man Utd in both the league games in the 23/24 season. It would be interesting to see who emerges victorious in this exciting clash.