Manchester United boss Ten Hag doesn’t fear the sack despite pressure mounting

Erik ten Hag has no concerns over being sacked by Manchester United and again pleaded for more time.

United’s season took another turn for the worse yesterday with a demoralising 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham. Ten Hag felt the 42nd-minute dismissal of captain Bruno Fernandes was pivotal but, even with 11 men on the field, United looked disorganised and disinterested.

United are 12th in the Premier League and have failed to win any of their last three matches in all competitions, scoring just once.

Asked after the Spurs game if he feared the sack, Ten Hag said: “I am not thinking about this.

“We all made in the summer the decision to stay together, as an ownership, a leadership group. Also we made the decision from a clear review what we have to improve and how we want to construct a squad. But we knew it will take some time, how the window went, some players late in like [Manuel] Ugarte.

“Also we have to make some improvement in [the overarching] organisation, we still have some ­injuries, we need some time. We are all on one page or in one boat together, the ownership, the staff and the players as well. I don’t have that concern.”

“It had a big impact.”

Erik on Bruno’s red card against Spurs ⤵️#MUFC || #MUNTOT

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 29, 2024

“Disgusting” performance, says Neville

Sky Sports pundit and former United full-back Gary Neville described the performance as “disgusting” and said the pressure on Ten Hag this week would be “brutal”.

Ten Hag admitted his players had under-performed but urged everyone to “stay calm and stick together”.

He added: “What I saw in the first 30 minutes is below the level of what we can expect from a Manchester United team and even when you concede so early you should stay calm and just stick together and stick to the plan then you would have a foothold in the game and we didn’t have this.”

United are facing a difficult week with a trip to Porto in the Europa League on Thursday before they head to Aston Villa on Sunday.