Erik ten Hag has proven this season that he is out of his depth at Manchester United, according to former Tottenham striker Darren Bent. Ahead of confirmation of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival at Old Trafford, Bent claims there is no way back for the current manager.
Ten Hag has been unable to build upon his successful first campaign at United. After winning the club’s first trophy in six years and finishing third in the Premier League, there was optimism he could be the man to bring sustained success back to the club.
But United have already lost 10 matches in all competitions this season. They are on the brink of exiting the Champions League and have flattered to deceive in the Premier League.
Ratcliffe’s purchase of a 25 per cent stake in United is set to be announced next week. Ahead of his arrival, Bent has made it clear that he doesn’t think Ten Hag is the main to lead the club into a new era.
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He said on talkSPORT: “When you get a new manager bounce and he’s won the cup and you finish in the top four, it’s almost hard to pick holes in what he’s done. But once that new manager bounce wears off and everything settles and you start to see what the team’s about, I think for me he’s out of his depth.
“I know you can’t keep sacking managers, I understand that and you’ve got to stick with somebody, but the players right now and moving forward are not responding to what Ten Hag’s telling them. Whether that be [Marcus] Rashford, [Anthony] Martial, Bruno Fernandes, whoever he’s picking in that squad, he’s now fallen out with [Raphael] Varane.
“These players are not listening to the instructions that he’s giving them. On the flip side of that, Newcastle have got so many injuries but look at how they’re running for Eddie Howe, tactically they are there.
“Tactically Eddie Howe was so good against United at the weekend. I look at Erik ten Hag and everything’s off the cuff and the players are like ‘Nah’.”
Bent believes Ten Hag has lost the faith of most of the players at United and cannot see any way of him winning them back. He added: “It must be a horrible place for a manager to be because you know full well you can’t get rid of the players so it’s him that has to go.
“I know he’s only been there a short time but players do get sick and tired of hearing the same messages from managers. After a while the manager’s voice, some players are like ‘Enough’s enough, I’m tired of this’ and it looks like now all those Manchester United players have downed tools for Ten Hag.
“And it’s going to be incredibly hard for him to bring it back.”
