Gary Neville hints at ‘some bugs within the Manchester United dressing room’ creating ‘discomfort and uncertainty’ for Erik ten Hag.
From uncertainty about new signings to their inability to get the right results, another week culminates with Manchester United being the talk of the media. Erik Ten Hag’s side succumbed to their third loss of the Premier League season after Brighton ended their previously strong unbeaten home record to add to the Dutchman’s misery.
In the weeks before, Ten Hag had had to deal with many issues coming together all at once. For starters, Antony’s assault allegations exploded onto the media, forcing Manchester United to give the winger some time off. Then Ten Hag’s public comments over Jadon Sancho’s conduct caused a stir, dividing opinion among pundits and fans alike.
Recently, Ten Hag opened up on the disciplinary problems within his team that were specifically pointed towards Sancho. Add that to the Harry Maguire problems, as the defender became the subject of vile abuse following his own goal against Scotland and the otherwise persistent boos from his fans at club and international level.
After an insipid performance against Brighton culminating in back-to-back defeats in the Premier League on either side of the International break, the pressure is truly on Ten Hag. While some corners continue to defend the Dutchman, others feel he’s not performing as expected.
🎙️ | Gary Neville:
"[Ten Hag] will continue to keep doing what he is doing, which is following his beliefs, his values, his principles. The only thing I would say is, how popular is Sancho in the dressing room? How popular is Maguire in the dressing room?"
[Sky Sports] pic.twitter.com/puXSUOGbaT
— UtdDistrict (@UtdDistrict) September 18, 2023
Former Manchester United star and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville has now hinted through his TikTok via the Daily Mail that ‘some bugs within the Manchester United dressing room’ are creating ‘discomfort and uncertainty’ for Erik ten Hag.
Neville said, “The only thing I would say is, how popular is Sancho in the dressing room? How popular is Maguire in the dressing room?”
“He’s got some bugs in there that we don’t know from the outside what discomfort and uncertainty is being created on the inside. “You’ve got a player who’s changing probably in the first team dressing room but is obviously over with the academy.”
“You’ve got Harry Maguire who was captain of these players now 12 months ago who is now almost been alienated to the third, fourth, fifth centre-half.”
“So he’s [Ten Hag] got some situations in there which I don’t know the damage that that is having but in terms of his work on the pitch – I don’t think Erik ten Hag will change.”
Ten Hag also has a long injury list to contend with, as all the current problems have culminated in adding increasing pressure on his shoulders. Some have also criticised him for his handling of many situations and even suggested he must mend his ways to suit the squad.
However, Ten Hag has long held his philosophies close to his chest and achieved decent success. In the past, many other Manchester United managers have faced such problems, even bigger ones. Hence, the Dutchman must test his character with these issues and try to come out of it as a winner.
The only way for that to start is by winning football matches on the pitch. Suppose things were getting worse for Manchester United in the Premier League. In that case, they now face Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener, as another bad result would add to the pressure on the Dutchman.
