Gary Neville: Erik ten Hag deserves another year at Manchester United | Football news

Erik ten Hag deserves another year as Manchester United boss, says Gary Neville, but Jamie Carragher claims 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 sit eighth in the Premier League and would currently fail to qualify for Europe through the Championship – although winning the FA Cup final against Manchester City would remedy that.

Many, including Sky Sports’ Carragher have called for the Ten Hag to be replaced at the end of the season, although former United legend Neville believes the boss should be given another year to prove himself to his new owner.

Who do you agree with?

Case for: Nev backs Ten Hag for another year

Neville said 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 return to last season’s standards where they won a trophy and finished in the top four.

“Players and managers have struggled to come to terms with Old Trafford over the last 10 years. These players and managers were great when United signed them, so there is something fundamentally wrong that creates this difficulty. Perhaps the new ownership and staff will allow these players and manager to feel more settled.

“As sure as the sun will rise, Manchester United will start winning again.

“When that is, I don’t know. There can be no guarantee, but I know these things go in cycles.

“I lived my whole childhood watching Liverpool, Everton and Arsenal winning trophies, winning the old Division One and I was patient.

“I had to wait until I was 18, 19 when Manchester United won a league title for the first time in my life – then I won a lot of league titles and now I haven’t won one for 10 years.

“I know very well that in my lifetime – I hope – Manchester United will win trophies, but they will win trophies again. We will succeed, as Liverpool will, as Arsenal will.

“You can’t keep these great clubs down. I’m sorry, they’re too big, too established, they’ve got a great history, they’re going through bad times.

“Look, hopefully in three, four weeks, this FA Cup final against Manchester City, which is such a tough game, we know how good City are, but if they can defy the odds, who knows where it could go.

Sunday, May 12, 3:30 p.m

It starts at 16:30

“You know, in 1989-90 Sir Alex Ferguson won an FA Cup which put confidence in him, in a group of players.

“They went on to win a Cup Winners’ Cup, then won the League Cup, then finally won a league title.

“It’s been block by block, step by step and that could be just around the corner, or it could be a few years away, but they’re going to win again, Manchester United. It’s inevitable.”

Case against – ‘£380m spent and nothing changed’

Writing in his TelegraphIn the column, Carragher said: “Erik Ten Hag could look at 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 calls for his sacking are premature.

“It will shock many that in the same number of Premier League games, the Dutchman’s record is slightly better than Arteta’s.

“Ten Hag have won five of their opening 73 Premier League games. He lost two fewer. United scored five more goals but, significantly, conceded another 16. Where Arteta won the FA Cup and Community Shield, Ten Hag lifted the League Cup and can still add the FA Cup.

“Arteta’s performance levels at Arsenal have never dipped as low as Manchester United’s Ten Hag.

“Although the league form has broken the wrong records, the cups and Europe have been a saving grace. In all competitions, Arteta has actually won more of his first 100 games than Arsène Wenger.

“It meant that amidst the setbacks there was always a sense of a final destination. When Arsenal were enjoying results and good performances, you could see the fruits of the labor on the training ground. Arsenal took steps back to move forward.

“Manchester United, by contrast, made a move forward last year but have since taken a few steps back.

“Ten Hag took over at United with a great reputation thanks to his work at Ajax, most notably when he led them to the semi-finals of the Champions League. He wasn’t presented as an up-and-coming coach, but at 52 he should have been a done deal. one that would impose a clear vision United had qualified for the Champions League in two of the three seasons prior to Ten Hag’s appointment and it was the belief that the talented players needed a top coach and a culture change on the training ground.

“Like Arteta, Ten Hag had no choice but to use the personnel available to be more pragmatic in his first season. In the first three transfer windows, United spent just over £380m and nothing changed as they bought more deadwood than they did. have sold from Ten Hag’s first Premier League squad (defeat Brighton in August 2022), seven are likely to still be first choice, only two have left the club and another, Jadon Sancho, is about to play in the League Final Champions on loan at Borussia Dortmund.

“United have been regularly outclassed by their rivals, losing 6-3 to Manchester City and 7-0 to Liverpool, while also struggling with mid-table teams in the Premier League.

“Even when United enjoyed good results under the Ten Hag, I really struggle to remember any exceptionally good performance with a proactive perceptive game system. After two years, they are not formed as a top team.

“None of Arteta’s most disappointing defeats has come close to Monday night’s 4-0 drubbing by Crystal Palace. Worryingly for Ten Hag, the biggest difference is that it’s not the name of the owner. Arsenal’s board have staked their reputation on Arteta doing well. Logic suggests that Ratcliffe will be more inclined to stand or fall depending on his managerial choice.”

Watch Man Utd vs Arsenal live on Sky Sports Premier League from 3.30pm on Sunday; start at 16.30

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