Manchester United fans demand.Eric ten Hag ‘sacked on the spot’ after most baffling claim yet
With the Manchester United boss already under pressure due to the state of recent results, the much-maligned manager certainly doesnโt tend to help himself.
After yet another underwhelming Red Devils display โ once again Manchester United needed Andre Onana to bail them out versus Jose Mourinhoโs Fenerbahce in the Europa League โ Ten Hag rattled off a series of ill-advised comments which will do little to boost his already dwindling popularly.
Ten Hag chose full-back Noussair Mazraoui ahead of fansโ favourite Amad Diallo in the number ten role.
The reason, he said, was that playing with four attackers away from home against Fenerbahce would have been simply too great a risk. Not exactly the โManchester United wayโ, is it?
Ten Hagโs insistence that Man United should have taken all three points away from Istanbul also doesnโt stand up to scrutiny, when you consider the heroics Onana and Manuel Ugarte produced to keep Jose Mourinhoโs team off the scoresheet before Youssef En-Nesyriโs deserved leveller.
Even worse was to come, however, during Ten Hagโs pre-West Ham press conference.
Erik ten Hag, Manager of Manchester United, gestures during the UEFA Europa League 2024/25 League Phase MD3 match between Fenerbahce SK and Manches…
Photo by Ahmad Mora โ UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
Erik ten Hag dismisses Manchester Unitedโs Tottenham battering
That horrific 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, the Dutchman said on Friday, counted for little due to Bruno Fernandesโ harsh โ and eventually overturned โ red card.
Now, if the United captain had been sent for an early bath only seconds after the kick off, channelling Steven Gerrard in 2015, Ten Hag might have had a point.
But United were already 1-0 down when Bruno Fernandes was removed from proceedings in the 42nd minute, one of the worst performances of the entire Ten Hag era already well underway.
โI ignire that game,โ Ten Hag said, much to the bemusement of a fanbase who had watched United fail to string more than a few passes together during a 40 minute spell best viewed behind the back of the sofa.
โI ignore that game against Spurs because we were downsized to ten and the red card was overturned.
โIt is not a fair assessment of the team to take this into consideration because we didnโt have the chance to bounce back. Of course, it was a tough first half, but in that period is also remember some very good chances.โ
Yes, Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho squandered presentable opportunities at 1-0.
But to say that Man United were unfortunate against a clearly superior Tottenham team feels like a delusion strong enough to warrant a stay in a padded cell.
โHe ignores that game?!โ one bemused fan wrote on X in response to arguably Ten Hagโs most baffling remark yet.
โThe first 43 minutes against Spurs [when we had 11 men on the pitch] was one of the worst halves of football I have seen from Man United in terms of lacking the technical ability to complete the most basic functions.โ
โThat first 30 mins of 11 v 11 is probably some of the worst football Iโve ever seen,โ agrees another. โA lacklustre and un-brave press, overly direct in possession. Probably wouldnโt ignore that one Erik.
โBut, then again, itโs what we see every week.โ
For some, such a brazen avoidance of blame is enough to warrant the printing of his P45 alone.
????????????? https://t.co/M2J4e7sLj8
โ h (@htomufc) October 25, 2024
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โI genuinely do not understand how he isnโt sacked on the spot after comments like this.โ
Another equally besumed supporter could only muster a series of question marks. Fittingly, really, given that confusion appears to be the prevailing emotion at Erik ten Hagโs Man United.
