Chris Sutton has claimed Erik ten Hag has “lost the plot” as his second season at Manchester United unraveled on Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
It looks increasingly unlikely that the embattled manager will find himself in the Old Trafford dugout next season after his team suffered another humiliating defeat against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
Although the club is not believed to be considering replacing the head coach ahead of the team’s FA Cup final against Manchester City at the end of the season, several alternative candidates are believed to be under consideration for the role, including Thomas Tuchel. and the former Chelsea. coach Graham Potter.
But both Sutton and his co-host, and Mail Sport Football editor, Ian Ladyman stressed that change at the beleaguered club may not come solely with the move of a new manager next season.
The expert even went so far as to claim that the job itself was difficult for most highly qualified managers to handle, citing the turbulent years that followed the end of the highly decorated reign of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Erik ten Hag’s role at Manchester United appears increasingly under siege as his tenure ends
The Dutch side suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at Selhurst Park against Palace on Monday
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) is believed to be looking for a replacement ahead of next season.
But Sutton and Ladyman first discussed Man United’s immediate task: trying to stop Arsenal’s title challenge at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The former Blackburn Rovers and Celtic player predicted that Arsenal will “win comfortably” against Ten Hag’s “hugely depleted” team, adding that it was difficult to imagine how things could get much more depressing in Manchester.
“The form is that bad,” Sutton said. “And when they surpass you… Crystal Palace were basically showing off in the first half, Eze and Elise. When it gets like this, can it get any worse?
‘Fair play to the fans for sticking with them. But gosh, how much longer can they keep going with players playing at such a low level?
In the wake of the defeat at Selhurst Park, several ex-United voices, including Paul Scholes, called for Ten Hag’s assistant Steve McClaren to take the reins for the remainder of the season.
But as Ladyman argued: ‘IIf he’s such a good manager, why hasn’t he had any kind of impact on this United disaster over the last eight or nine months?
‘I was thinking about something this week about Ten Hag and what surprises me about Ten Hag is not who has had problems because he is not the first coach who has had problems at that football club,” Ladyman continued.
“But I’m surprised he hasn’t shown himself this season as a coach. And when he came from Ajax, that was his reputation. His reputation was that of an intelligent, brilliant, modern coach. But there has been absolutely no sign of that this season.
Former Man United manager Jose Mourinho may have exaggerated his influence, but he would have a plan to chase Arsenal’s title.
Ten Hag’s assistant Steve McClaren (left) has been proposed as his interim replacement.
“For example, and I never want to use Jose Mourinho as an example, but I will because, as a modern coach, Mourinho is very much a failed color in terms of the modern game.
And he certainly wasn’t as effective as he likes to pretend when he was at United. But if someone like Mourinho was in charge of this team on Sunday, you can imagine he would have a plan, and you know what that plan would be.
“(They) would go out on that pitch on Sunday at Old Trafford and prepare it in such a way that it would be almost impossible for Arsenal to beat United and try to get a 0-0 and you never know, maybe they even get a 1-0 in You could see Mourinho doing that because that’s what great coaches do.
‘I just can’t imagine Ten Hag doing that. He never seems to send the team out with any kind of really obvious template for how to play and that’s what throws me off, and that’s why I don’t really give them much of a chance on Sunday.
“Because I’ll just go out and do what they normally do, which is a mix of everything that essentially adds up to nothing.”
Sutton agreed, adding that it was impossible to assess whether United had made positive changes since the Dutchman’s first season.
“I went quite early to Ten Hag and I think you didn’t agree and I understood why you didn’t agree,” Sutton said. ‘But it was about progress.
“And they had a good season last season to progress.” More pertinently, it was about them controlling the games because I didn’t see them having any control in the games.
Ten Hag has struggled to replicate his successful first season in charge at Old Trafford.
Outgoing Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel is believed to be up for the challenge.
“The whole season has been a problem. It’s not getting better. And because of that, you could argue that it has gotten worse. That’s why Erik ten Hag will go. But I think what you say about him and his training is very valid right now. He seems to have lost his way.
“You see a lot of comments talking about them being one of the most dynamic and entertaining teams in the Premier League. I just think they are losing control and really need to be put out of their misery as soon as possible. But it will happen at the end of the season. season”.
Ladyman, however, did not have the most optimistic view of the future at Carrington, especially in light of the emergence of outgoing Bayern Munich coach Tuchel’s candidacy.
“Hearing and reading some of the stories about Jim Ratcliffe at Manchester United this week, and emails to staff about the state of the changing rooms, emails to staff about ending the work-from-home culture that developed at the “Manchester United as a football club.” Ladyman began.
‘(He) already seems like a micromanager to me, he seems like a busybody and you wonder if, I know it’s early to say this, you wonder how that would apply to a certain type of coach.
“Someone like (Thomas) Tuchel, for example, is someone who was essentially kicked out of Chelsea because he couldn’t agree with the new American owners there. If Radcliffe is going to run that club in such a hands-on and authoritarian way, it will take some type of manager to work in that environment.
While Sutton argued his co-host was perhaps going too early in his judgment of billionaire Ineos, he reflected on the acquisition’s goals based on his successful management of the Ineos Grenadiers cycling team.
No Man United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned in 2013 has been able to match his success.
“What they’re trying to do, (why) Dave Brailsford comes in is small margins, small profits and trying to find them,” he added.
“I think we all feel that it won’t be about small gains for Manchester United next season. It’s about taking giant steps forward. And I don’t know if that’s possible.
“I think what we have learned since Sir Alex Ferguson resigned is that United have gone backwards. We can look at Ten Hag, but you can look at all the managers who have been in charge. You mentioned Mourinho, (Louis) Van Gaal and you didn’t They have been able to find a way.
“It’s a car accident the work that has to be delivered. But it’s a great club. They have to find their way back. And I think it’s going to be a slow process, a laborious process. And once again, you know, it will take the word patience