Ten Hag told Man Utd future ‘depends’ on £110m trio as short-term goal is set amid sack escape

Graeme Souness has warned Erik ten Hag that he is not out of the woods yet after avoiding the Manchester United sack with his future wholly dependent on getting three summer signings firing – while another pundit claims the club would look like “calamitous clowns” were they to axe him now.

The Red Devils are off to their worst-ever start in Premier League history with just two wins and three defeats from their opening seven matches played so far. Sitting 14th in the Premier League, Manchester United are statistically nearer the relegation zone right now than they are the top four.

As a result, it is no surprise that speculation over Ten Hag has reached fever pitch and a meeting of United’s executive committee in their INEOS head office in central London this week had the Dutchman’s future right at the very top of the agenda.

And while we understand that Sir Jim Ratcliffe had recommended to the board that they should part ways with the Dutchman, it seems it has been decided to give the 54-year-old a stay of execution. However, Ten Hag has been warned that, while his job is reportedly not under any immediate threat, wholesale improvements must be made and a good points return must be achieved from their next four games against Brentford, Fenerbahce (in the Europa League), West Ham and Leicester.

Former Liverpool boss Souness believes Ten Hag’s future depends on him getting the best from his summer signings and says that getting the best from Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui – who signed this summer for a combined £110m (€131.6m, $143.8m) – will be key.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Souness stated: “…the fundamental point is this: many players are better than what they are showing and that’s on Erik because a manager’s No 1 job must be to get the best out of his players.

“The club spent big again last summer but neither Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt nor Noussair Mazraoui convince me.

“Erik can’t say United haven’t supported him. By buying so many Dutch internationals and players he has managed previously, he has told the club: ‘I know these players. They will do a good job.’

“If someone had brought them to his attention and he didn’t fancy them, he could have said: ‘No, I’ve worked with them before and they’re not for me.’

“He has driven those transfers. His future now depends on making them work out.”

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Man Utd would be ‘calamitous clowns’ if they sack Ten Hag now

Despite preparing the side for the Bees clash on Saturday week, Ten Hag’s future remains far from certain and a failure to claim positive results over the remainder of the month will ensure the pressure remains very firmly on his shoulders.

And it is our understanding that, during those talks on Tuesday, Ratcliffe put forward the names of both Thomas Tuchel – who held talks with United over the summer – and Graham Potter as prospective replacements.

Ultimately, though, the British billionaire left the decision in the hands of chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth, with Ratcliffe trusting their superior football knowledge and analysis of the situation in reaching the verdict to stand by their man – for now.

However, Simon Jordan feels there is an element of United being made to look silly if they had sacked a manager just a matter of weeks after handing him a contract extension.

‘The proper time for a robust discussion about Erik ten Hag’s future was during the summer, not seven games into a new season in which he’s been handed an extended contract and £200m worth of new players and a so-called new framework which is only weeks old,’ he wrote in the Daily Mail.

‘I’m not excusing United’s start to the season. You don’t need to be a performance analyst guru with supposed transferable skills like Sir Dave Brailsford to look at the league table and realise 14th isn’t good enough.

‘Any club of United’s stature would be investigating replacement options if the current malaise doesn’t correct itself. And should United remain outside the top 10 by Christmas, there wouldn’t even be a debate to be had, calls for the manager to go would be universal.

‘But barely two months into the season, why would you change the strategy you were convinced by in the summer?

‘If they’d taken radical action and removed Ten Hag in their first close season, I’d have understood – and even encouraged it. But to reverse their own decision so quickly suggests a loss of nerve. We know that although the league table looks bad, it is only a small sample size and things in football can change relatively quickly.

‘If they believe Ten Hag was the right person in the summer, they owe it to give him a little more rope, either to run with or the alternative.

‘As a club, United have not yet built the stability around the coach they said they were going to. Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada are just in the building.

‘While my gut feeling is you should always run your business the way you think it should, United know that jettisoning their manager so soon after inviting him to stay makes them look out of control. It will be a trigger for running the gauntlet of public opinion who will see them as a bunch of calamitous clowns for reversing a big decision they took in the summer.’

Man Utd chase UCL defender / Van Basten slaughters Ten Hag transfers

Souness is not the only one to question Ten Hag over his summer signings, with Paul Scholes also lamenting the transfers made by the United boss this summer.

Now Dutch legend Marco van Basten has also condemned Ten Hag for signing ‘costly mistake’ Ugarte, with the Uruguayan star having cost £50m from PSG but having been limited to just 103 minutes of Premier League action so far.

However, we believe it may be too soon to write the Uruguayan off and we’ve outlined exactly why he is key to getting the best out of Kobbie Mainoo.

Despite that, the Red Devils are far from done with spending this season and sources have informed us that United are evaluating a potential €28m January deal for Amar Dedic, with Dan Ashworth an admirer and looking to beat his former club Brighton, as well as Napoli to his signature.

The former stars Ten Hag has reunited with at Man Utd