Man United’s 11th defeat this season has pressure mounting on Erik ten Hag… with Bayern Munich and Liverpool next, Mail Sport’s experts argue for and against keeping him at Old Trafford

• Pressure is intensifying on Erik ten Hag after Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Bournemouth
• Despitr a dismal start to the season, many fans want him to be given more time 
• There’s a lot of anger at Man United – it’s them against the world! Listen to It’s All Kicking Off 

Eleven defeats already this season has Erik ten Hag shuffling uncomfortably in the Manchester United dugout – but not all are convinced sacking him is the way to go.

Losing 3-0 at home to Bournemouth, just days after defeating Chelsea at Old Trafford, brought recriminations. 

But now that the dust has settled, many fans are asking themselves if Ten Hag is the roadblock to prosperity, or, he has a poor hand and cannot do much more with the tools at his disposal.

Mail Sport’s team of writers have their say on whether the Dutchman – who ended United’s six-year trophy drought last season by winning the Carabao Cup – should stay or go… 

Pressure is mounting on Erik ten Hag after Manchester United lost an 11th game of the season

Dominic Solanke found himself on the scoresheet at Old Trafford as Bournemouth won 3-0

STAY 

Chris Wheeler

The biggest threat to Erik ten Hag in the long-term is the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS team.

For now, though, it would make no sense to sack the Dutchman mid-season. Who would you bring in as his replacement for a start? Would they be able to get any more out of this group of players?

Ultimately, Ten Hag may well carry the can for United’s results having spent £400m on new players, and it could be about to get a whole lot worse with games against Bayern Munich and Liverpool this week. But there’s no point pressing the panic button now.

Joe Bernstein 

All United managers are compared to Fergie but if the knee-jerk approach had been applied to him, we’d never have found out how good he was.

Give Ten Hag the full season, then you can judge properly in the summer. 

Arsenal could have sacked Mikel Arteta after losing 5-0 at City – they’re glad they held their nerve.

Nathan Salt 

It is very difficult to defend a 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth – even Ten Hag isn’t doing that – but now is a moment to send a message to these underperforming players.

Jose Mourinho was spot on about a lot of the deadwood clogging the halls at United. He wanted Anthony Martial gone long ago and yet incredibly he is still there. 

Ten Hag was hailed as the next great manager in English football with a third-placed finish and the Carabao Cup last season and I refuse to believe he’s completely lost his touch overnight. 

United – and incoming part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe – need to back Ten Hag to build and coach his way out of this malaise. 

Get Rasmus Hojlund some help, shift ageing stars like Raphael Varane and Casemiro, build young and build hungry. 

Binning Ten Hag to leave a new man with a host of his players is nonsensical.  

Fans headed for the exits against Bournemouth – but now is the time to stick rather than twist

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Liam Morgan

Gary Neville gets a lot of stick for blaming the chaos at the top for Manchester United’s malaise, but he’s right.

The structure in place – or lack of under the Glazers – simply does not breed success. Even Guardiola and Klopp would struggle at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag is far from blameless but he still has enough credit in the bank to be given the chance to lead the team when – fingers crossed – Sir Jim Ratcliffe brings people in who actually know what they are doing.

United cannot continue with this disastrous cycle of sacking managers without any clear plan and then hoping the next one will do better. In fact, there are more grounds to get rid of half of the playing squad, most of which has been better at throwing bosses under the bus than winning football matches.

It is high time players started taking responsibility for their drab displays instead of trying to force another good manager out of the door because he makes them run a bit too much in training, or because they disagree with his justifiable decisions to banish bad eggs from the dressing room.

The Dutchman himself will know he can improve but he should be allowed the time to do so.

Manchester United cannot persist with this arduous cycle of hiring and firing managers 

Sir Jim Ratcliffe should help bring better structure off the pitch when he seals his 25% stake

Dan Cancian

Ten Hag isn’t blameless by any stretch but he should stay. 

Yes, his signings have underwhelmed and there’s no discernible tactical plan to be seen, but United have to bite the bullet and allow him to ride out the storm for a number of reasons.

No manager – not even Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp – would succeed under the current ownership, for whom football is merely an afterthought. Ten Hag has walked into a club with no football structure and it shows – he’s been effectively simultaneously working as manager and director of football since he was appointed. That wouldn’t happen at any other elite club across European football.

Sacking Ten Hag would only continue the vicious cycle United have been stuck in for a decade, leaving his successor with a squad made up of players – most of whom are patently not good enough – signed by previous managers and needing yet another clear out.

Adam Shergold

Manchester United could pull the trigger on Erik ten Hag… but where would it get them?

It would suggest they have learned absolutely nothing from the past decade, where managers have been chopped and changed, had a ton of money chucked at them to sign overpriced players and then been axed at the first sign of trouble. This strategy has got them nowhere.

Things are miserable at the moment, but Ten Hag deserves more time. 

Have we already forgotten about last season, where a trophy and third-placed finish in the league amounted to a big overachievement for a first season?

The Glazers ownership has soured the mood around the club and that hangs over the first team

It’s not his fault the club is rotten to the core, with owners who care only for the bottom line, and that he inherited a number of uncommitted and complacent players happy only to collect their huge salaries.

Ten Hag is still sorting out problems from previous regimes and is still only 16 months in. It’s far too soon to pass final judgement.

It’s true we do need to see more of an identity to this United side and definitely a greater consistency of performances and results.

But the main question is – do United really want to get rid of Ten Hag and start all over again? Who is that miracle-worker out there just waiting to take charge? Exactly, there isn’t one.

Ryan Walker

Erik ten Hag has been disgracefully let down by his players and the Manchester United board this season, he deserves to stay and sacking him would only be saving the skins of executives and players who only care about themselves.

Ten Hag has to act as United’s chief recruiter, motivator, manager and company spokesperson such is the lack of structure and communication from club directors. The reality is he’s the only manager of a top club that has to do this and it’s no surprise to see the crisis being pinned on him.

There are currently 14 players in United’s first-team that have been there under successive managers with some dating all the way back to Louis van Gaal and the majority of them aren’t good enough. 

A clear out of these serial losers is needed and only then will Ten Hag be able to mould his own identity. United are a team engaging in tank warfare with 4x4s, they get them to the front line but are quickly destroyed by the big guns. Ten Hag has to stay, the players and owners are to blame.

Players are letting Ten Hag down and many of them ruthlessly need moving on in the summer

GO 

Anthony Hay

Erik ten Hag looks like a dead man walking with the end game likely to come at Anfield (of all places).

Two heavy defeats against Bayern Munich and Liverpool should see Ten Hag suffer the same fate as a certain Jose Mourinho.

Manchester United have lost 11 times this season and it’s not even Christmas yet.

Having a goal difference of -3 after 16 games in the Premier League is damning and the fact that Ten Hag is not getting a tune out of HIS signings is another reason he should be put out of his misery.

Rasmus Hojlund – a striker who could cost the club up to £72million – has failed to score in the Premier League, Antony has not pulled up any trees and Mason Mount has been anonymous despite Ten Hag making him his priority signing in the summer. The Dutchman has spent £400m over the course of three transfer windows.

Loyal Ten Hag supporters will say back the manager but football is unforgiving and the incoming Sir Jim Ratcliffe has not become one of Britain’s richest men without being ruthless.

The trigger will have to be pulled if they succumb to heavy losses on Tuesday and Sunday despite Ten Hag’s success last season.

It can be argued that Ten Hag has been backed heavily and players HE signed are struggling

AND WHAT DO THE PUNDITS THINK?

Danny Murphy

The fact Bournemouth won at Old Trafford and no one is surprised tells you everything you need to know about Manchester United under Ten Hag.

If United want to dine at English football’s top table again, Ten Hag is not the manager to take them there.

United just cannot compete with City, Liverpool and Arsenal with the players they have under Ten Hag. I don’t see a team that’s progressing after a good first season. I see one that’s regressing and I don’t see how that will change with Ten Hag in charge.

It’s not all Ten Hag’s fault, of course. Many of the problems at United lie above and beyond him. Some of the players also need to look themselves in the mirror.

However, Ten Hag has been hugely influential in recruitment at United and none of the signings can yet be deemed a success. Some of the players seem to lack motivation too, which is on him, and he needs to be tactically better.

While players need to look at themselves, Danny Murphy feels Ten Hag is not the right man

The former Liverpool midfielder believes the Man United job simply came too soon for Ten Hag

I’ve always thought United would give Ten Hag until the end of the season but if they want to get to where they want to be, a change probably needs to happen now and let a new manager work out what he needs to do.

It’s a shame because Ten Hag is a likeable guy but you get the sense the United job came a bit too early for him. 

At Ajax, he never had to manage superstars. He never had to deal with the constant magnifying glass of being at one of the biggest clubs in the world. He’s learning on the job and it’s not working. Unless the manager changes, neither will the style.

It’s time for a change but only if they have a plan in place. There is no point sacking Ten Hag now unless United know what they want to do next. But it’s clear this manager isn’t the right man for United.

Gary Neville 

The former Manchester United defender gave his thoughts to Sky Sports on Sunday: 

There’s no way they should change him this season. This idea of sacking him is absolute nonsense, I wouldn’t be in favour of that anyway. 

The lack of leadership and structure above him, I know people say ‘you can’t blame the Glazers’ yeah you can! Because 10 years of failure and miserable recruitment comes down to the fact that they’ve not got a sporting director, a proper head of recruitment in place. 

That’s why this happens, it’s because ultimately managers and coaches look above them and say ‘I haven’t got anyone there so I’ll try and do it myself.’ This is all down to the leadership. 

If it happened once fair enough. If it happens twice, you’d say ‘ask the question’. This has happened five times in 10 years. They’ve spent a billion quid, they’re on the limit with FFP, they’re £700million in debt, they owe £300m to other clubs. They bank overdrafts at £250m-£300m. 

Gary Neville labelled the idea United should sack Ten Hag as ‘nonsense’ despite an 11th defeat

https://youtube.com/watch?v=sbgHXmOuncg%3Frel%3D0

IT’S ALL KICKING OFF! 

It’s All Kicking Off is an exciting new podcast from Mail Sport that promises a different take on Premier League football, launching with a preview show today and every week this season.

It is available on MailOnline, Mail+, YouTube , Apple Music and Spotify

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