Man United will sack Erik ten Hag if one thing happens vs Southampton, says club legend

Former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has stated he believes Erik ten Hag could be sacked if he loses to Southampton.

Ten Hag has found his position at the club under increasing scrutiny with the Red Devils winning just one of their opening three games of the Premier League season.

The United boss found himself heavily backed in the summer’s transfer window with five new arrivals including bringing in his former players Matthijs de Ligt and
Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich.

With Ten Hag’s long-term future unclear, former Manchester United striker Louis Saha has weighed in on what he thinks could happen to the current United head coach.

Discussing Ten Hag’s job stability with Betfred, Saha confirmed he believes that the Dutchman will be sacked if he loses to Southampton in unconvincing fashion.

“I think so,” Saha said regarding Ten Hag potentially being fired. “Against Liverpool, the issue was the performance rather than just the result, so Erik’s under pressure because the team isn’t playing well.

“There were no signs during the game that things were going to be fixed. On Saturday, if Southampton are able to dominate against Manchester United in the same way that Liverpool dominated last week, then the situation would be untenable for Erik ten Hag.”

Expanding on where Ten Hag went wrong against Liverpool, Saha was queried on whether he believes the current United boss has shown versatility in his tactics:

“You need to find different ways to beat the best sides and that’s something that every manager needs to do,” Saha explained.

“But at the same time your philosophy really has to always be in line with a foundation that the players can really understand, know what the manager is asking of them and know what the needs are during the game. 

“There’s a lot of people in punditry and the media, as well as the fans, who are seeing things that they can’t understand when they watch Manchester United at the moment.

“We saw Arne Slot and Liverpool destroy the tactics of Erik ten Hag in their last game. At this moment, it’s not about personalities, it’s about seeing a plan that the players can identify with and cause damage with.

“Sometimes we see players play as individuals or not being able to respond correctly but at the moment, the problem is the game plan. Currently, we can’t identify a clear game plan and that’s why Erik’s being criticised. Things need to improve.”

First taking the Manchester United hotseat in April of 2022, Ten Hag has led the Reds to third and eighth-place finishes in the Premier League.

Additionally, in that time Ten Hag has won an FA Cup and a Carabao Cup.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Thursday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.