“Big loss…” – Ex-Man United defender says four players haven’t been able to replace Erik ten Hag favourite

Manchester United lost 4-3 against Copenhagen on Wednesday evening and will be feeling the pressure ahead of their Premier League clash against Luton Town.

It was a Champions League nightmare for Erik ten Hag and his team, who were cruising to victory after 40 minutes before Marcus Rashford’s red card.

Rasmus Hojlund’s double gave United a two-goal cushion but with 10 men, the visitors capitulated in Denmark and now sit bottom of their group.

The pressure is seemingly building on Ten Hag, who needs results to secure his long-term future at Old Trafford, but former Red Mikael Silvestre believes he needs time.

“I think he’s got a responsibility to do well but he needs to be given time to achieve what he wants for the club,” the ex-defender told bettingexpert.

“It will take time for him to build what he wants and it’s only his second year so it’s too early to make a judgement. I think there could be an improvement in recruitment.”

Ten Hag’s signings have been a major question mark since he took over at the club. £82 million signing Antony was an unused substitute when United needed a win on Wednesday.

However, Silvestre has also cited the injury troubles at the club as an issue and that the squad need to ‘stick together’ during these tough games.

In particular, he highlighted the miss of left-back Luke Shaw, who he says is reaching his peak under Ten Hag, and the four different players who have tried to replace him at left-back haven’t fit the manager’s puzzle.

“It can’t get any worse and I think there are players in situations that aren’t ideal,” Silvestre added.

“There are injuries and the team is unsettled. The first team players are unavailable which makes trying to play football difficult. Things will get better when the squad is back to normal.

“It’s a rough patch but they need to stick together.

“Luke Shaw has been one of the better players for Erik since he joined the club and he’s reaching his peak so Luke is a big loss.

“They’ve had Lindelof, Dalot, Amrabat and Reguilon playing there so Shaw is an important part of the puzzle.”

Shaw has been out of action through injury since the second game of the season but is making positive developments in his recovery.