Gary Neville suggests that Manchester United might have already determined Erik ten Hag’s fate as manager, irrespective of his ability to secure Champions League qualification for the club.
Fulham ended Manchester United’s four-match winning streak in the Premier League over the weekend, securing a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford and leaving Ten Hag’s team eight points adrift of the top four.
Gary Neville on Erik ten Hag’s future at Man Utd under Sir Jim Ratcliffe: “I suspect they’ve already come to a conclusion already. It may already be that it’s Champions League or not, they still will stick with that decision.”
Gary Neville bold prediction
Though the revamped Champions League format means finishing fifth would likely be enough to secure a Champions League spot, former club captain Neville, speaking on Monday Night Football with Sky Sports, pointed to the club’s confused playing style under Ten Hag as a serious concern.
He added that incoming minority shareholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who now leads football operations at the club, may well have already decided his course of action given Barcelona, Liverpool and Bayern Munich are already on the look-out for new managers to take up positions this summer.
“If you look at [Omar Berrada] coming in from City as CEO, and looking to get Dan Ashworth from Newcastle, they’re going to make a decision quite quickly if they haven’t already,” he said.
“I suspect Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford already know whether Erik ten Hag will be the manager next season. I can’t believe they’re going to wait until May to make that decision, and then leave themselves short.
“Where Man Utd have been found out in the last 10 years in recruitment is making poor decisions, late decisions, not being ahead of the game.
“I don’t think they’re going to do that, so for me I suspect they’ve already come to a conclusion already. It may already be that it’s Champions League or not, they still will stick with that decision.”
Neville pointed to Man Utd’s long-running lack of a clear philosophy – contrasted with Jurgen Klopp’s counter-pressing at Liverpool and Pep Guardiola’s possession game at Man City – to raise questions about the direction of travel under Ten Hag, whose side have already lost one more game this season than in the entirety of 2022/23.
“There isn’t anybody who watches Man Utd whether you’re a fan or not a fan who knows what they’re trying to do every single week, and that is an issue,” he said.
“I was just thinking about the first Monday Night Football of the season against Wolves, when you had Casemiro in midfield with Mount and Fernandes pushing up.
“Those spaces in midfield alongside Casemiro were just drastic. It’d been spotted in pre-season as well, in some of those matches. It’s something which has happened repeatedly for eight or nine months – they’ve just not been able to shake it off.
“It’s pretty obvious Erik ten Hag is going to be judged on results in the last part of the season, and obviously getting into the Champions League spots is important. But there is going to be a demand, I suspect, on performance levels – and feeling like the club is going in the right direction on the pitch.”
