With the imminent appointment of Erik ten Hag, Manchester United want to divert attention from the disappointing sporting performance, thinks Gary Neville. The Ajax trainer is expected to be presented as manager for next season this week. That there is enough work to be done for Ten Hag was clear from the shocking 4-0 defeat against Liverpool on Tuesday evening. Manchester United are currently in sixth place in the Premier League.
It is not only noisy in the sporting field: there are also large demonstrations against the Glazer family, who manage the club. “The fans are demonstrating and angry about the sporting achievements, they cannot believe what is happening. Manchester United are also out of all competitions,” Neville said as an analyst at Sky Sports† “There are two reasons why they are so desperate to appoint the new manager. On the one hand you have to have a coach, of course, but they want to do it as soon as possible because they can’t wait to shift focus to next season. . It’s the old political trick.”
Co-analyst Roy Keane hopes that Ten Hag will get a big finger in the pie when it comes to transfer policy at Old Trafford. “You need a coach who has the power and control within the club. The current coach doesn’t have that,” Keane refers to Ralf Rangnick. “When the new coach comes in, the club must be behind him. He must be able to make major decisions about the transfers. In recent years, the transfer decisions were made at the top. That often did not work out well. The trainer must have an important voice in this. .”
According to Neville, it is important that Ten Hag is given a certain status that his predecessors did not have. In his eyes, the players are the club’s banner at the moment, rather than the manager. “Manchester United have brought in players such as Alexis Sanchez, Paul Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo with great fanfare in recent years. The players were elevated above the coach. At Liverpool, Chelsea or Manchester City, the trainer is the main figure at the club. But at Manchester United United, the coaches have been undermined by giving the players some sort of divine status, which they have not lived up to.”