Monday, December 16, 2024

‘Doesn’t seem to be able to manage big personalities’

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[BBC]

Erik ten HagErik ten Hag

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I am not a hater of Erik ten Hag but there are issues at Manchester United.

I have not seen any players look like they have improved or see them understanding his system any better than the first day he walked through the door.

It means I have to question him because we are now a few years down the line.

If you are a manager that wins two cups, then you probably think that is enough to remain in your job – but for a club as big as Manchester United it is not.

He does not seem to be able to manage big personalities and that is a problem. We saw how the Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho situations played out. Then there is his relationship with Marcus Rashford. Sometimes he is in the team and in form – and then he gets dropped.

Ten Hag keeps openly talking about trying to change the culture at the club and have discipline, which is fine, but if you lose players because of it then it matters. I don’t like the saying ‘lost the dressing room’ but he keeps talking about culture in interviews.

He has also said a lot about injuries, but he had a full-strength squad against Tottenham and it was their worst performance in a very long time. Spurs outplayed them across every area of the pitch.

He was a fantastic manager for Ajax, where he had them playing with an identity, and he was good at bringing players through. But this is a very disorganised United team.

For a manager who has been well organised in the past, United are too easy to open up and we saw that against Tottenham.

They have big games coming up against Porto and Aston Villa. You never want to talk about someone losing their job, but the games then lead into an international break, so is that then the time for change?

He seems to be quite confident that they will stick with him for the season but is that just him saying that?

If he does not get results from these next two games then I think he will be lucky to see the international break through.

Fara Williams was speaking to BBC Sport’s Katie Stafford

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[BBC]

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