Manchester United inconsistency this season has led to constant speculation over Erik ten Hag’s future as manager.
Ironically, the apparent candidates to succeed Ten Hag are underwhelming at best and some of the comments made by former United players in recent weeks have been disrespectful towards the manager.
Ten Hag’s first season at United went to plan as the team overachieved. We won the Carabao Cup, finished third in the Premier League and runners-up in the FA Cup.
This season, however, we’ve experienced a few bumps along the way. United face an uphill climb for Champions League qualification as the campaign draws to a close, on top of a date booked at Wembley for the FA Cup semi-finals.
A meeting with Coventry City is the reward for knocking Liverpool out in the quarter-finals.
However, United’s upturn in form and results has not quenched speculation over the manager’s future. England boss Gareth Southgate was linked with the United job and the same can be said for Graham Potter, Roberto de Zerbi and Thomas Frank.
Ten Hag appears unmoved by the talk about his job.
Speaking to reporters ahead of United’s league meeting with Brentford, Ten Hag said (via The Independent): “You know when you are working at Man United there will always be noise, rumours around the club, the manager, the players, whatever.
“There will always (an) issue – you like it, to talk about. Of course we have different interest, but we are not focusing on that.
“We are focusing on the process, we are focusing on the team to play better, to improve the way of play, so I don’t care about (it).”
Ten Hag experienced similar scrutiny during his time at Ajax, where he won three Eredivisie titles before moving to Old Trafford.
He added: “I was trainer at Ajax. Similar.
“You get used to it, so we don’t care. Players don’t care, I don’t care. We are together in the boat and we know we have to perform and get the right results.”
Subscribe to the Stretty News podcast Strettycast for weekly episodes on Manchester United. You can also sign up to the ad-free Stretty Newsletter. Get the Stretty News verdict on all matters Manchester United.
More must-reads: