Should Erik ten Hag be given one more year as Manchester United manager? Watch Man Utd vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports Premier League from 3.30pm on Sunday - kick-off 4.30pm
Sunday 12 May 2024 10:16, UK
Erik ten Hag deserves one more year as Manchester United boss, says Gary Neville but Jamie Carragher argues they are "going backwards" - who is right?
The Dutchman's future is under the microscope ahead of Manchester United's clash with Arsenal at Old Trafford on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
United are eighth in the Premier League and as it stands would fail to qualify for Europe through the league - although winning the FA Cup final clash against Manchester City would remedy that.
Many, including Sky Sports' Carragher, have made the case for Ten Hag to replaced at the end of the season though former United legend Neville feels the boss should get one more year to prove himself to the new ownership.
Who do you agree with?
Neville told Sky Sports: "I don't see a suitable replacement for Ten Hag available. Bayern Munich are struggling to find a replacement, others are struggling. I think we need to stick with Ten Hag and give him one more season - an injury-free season - to see if United can get back to the standards of last season where they won a trophy and finished in the top four.
"Players and managers have struggled to come to terms with Old Trafford in the last 10 years. These players and managers were great when United signed them, so there is something fundamentally wrong that is creating this difficulty. Maybe the new ownership and personnel will allow these players and manager to feel more stable.
"As sure as the sun will rise, Manchester United will start to win again.
"When that is, I don't know. It can be no guarantee, but I know that these things go in cycles.
"I lived my whole childhood watching Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal win trophies, win the old Division One, and was patient.
"I had to wait until I was 18, 19 when Manchester United first won a league title in my life - and then we won a load of league titles, and now we've not won one for 10 years.
"I know full well that in my lifetime - hopefully - Manchester United will win trophies, but they will win trophies again. We will get it right, just as Liverpool will, just as Arsenal will.
"You can't keep these great clubs down. I'm sorry, they're too big, they're too established, they've got a great history, they go through lean periods.
"Look, I hope in three, four weeks that this FA Cup final against Manchester City, which is such a tough game, we know how good City are, but if they can just defy the odds who knows where that might lead to.
"You know, in 1989-90 Sir Alex Ferguson won an FA Cup that put belief into him, into a group of players.
"They then went on to win a Cup Winners' Cup, then went onto win the League Cup, then went on to eventually win a league title.
"It was building block by block, step by step and that could be just around the corner, or it could be a few years away, but they will win again, Manchester United. It's inevitable."
Writing in his Telegraph column, Carragher said: "Erik Ten Hag may analyse his next opponent's first two years at the Emirates and see hope. He could certainly use it as evidence to Sir Jim Ratcliffe that demands for his dismissal are premature.
"It will shock many that across the same number of Premier League games, the Dutchman's record is slightly better than that of Arteta.
"Ten Hag has won five more of his first 73 Premier League games. He has lost two fewer. United have scored five more goals, but, significantly, conceded 16 more. Where Arteta won the FA Cup and Community Shield, Ten Hag lifted the League Cup and may yet add the FA Cup.
"Arteta's Arsenal performance levels never sank as consistently low as those of Ten Hag's Manchester United.
"Although the league form was breaking the wrong records, the cups and Europe were a salvation. In all competitions, Arteta actually won more of his first 100 fixtures than Arsène Wenger.
"That meant amid the setbacks there was always a sense of an ultimate destination. When Arsenal enjoyed good results and performances, you could see the fruits of the work on the training ground. Arsenal took steps back to move forward.
"Manchester United, by contrast, made a move forward last year, but have taken several steps back since.
"Ten Hag took over at United with a big reputation because of his work at Ajax, especially when he led them to the Champions League semi-final. He was not presented as an emerging coach but at 52 was supposed to be a ready-made one who would impose a clear vision. United had qualified for the Champions League in two of the three seasons preceding Ten Hag's appointment and there was a belief talented players needed superior coaching and a change of culture at the training ground.
"Like Arteta, Ten Hag had no choice but to use the personnel available to be more pragmatic in his first season. Over his first three transfer windows, United spent just over £380 million and nothing has changed as they have bought more deadwood than they have sold. Of Ten Hag's first Premier League line-up (defeat by Brighton in August, 2022), seven would probably still make the first choice XI. Only two have left the club, and another, Jadon Sancho, is about to play the Champions League final on loan at Borussia Dortmund.
"United have been regularly outclassed by rivals, losing 6-3 against Manchester City and 7-0 to Liverpool, while struggling against mid-table Premier League teams too.
"Even when United have enjoyed good results under Ten Hag, I am genuinely struggling to recall any exceptionally good performances with a perceptively proactive system of play. Two years on, they are not set up like a top team.
"None of Arteta's most disappointing losses were remotely comparable to the 4-0 defeat by Crystal Palace on Monday night. Worryingly for Ten Hag, the biggest difference is he is not the owner's appointment. The Arsenal board staked their reputation on Arteta coming good. Logic suggests Ratcliffe will be more inclined to stand or fall based on his managerial pick."
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