“Waiting to take over…” Martin Keown reckons he knows Manchester United’s next manager

Former Premier League star Martin Keown has a theory on who he thinks will take over from Erik ten Hag as Manchester United’s manager.

Erik ten Hag is under mounting pressure as Manchester United’s manager following a third Premier League loss in six matches this season.

The team currently languish in 13th place and were held to a disappointing draw at home against FC Twente in their Europa League opener, prompting many fans to call for the Dutch coach’s dismissal.

Read More: Ruud van Nistelrooy ‘open’ to replacing Erik ten Hag at Manchester United, claims Dutch media

The 3-0 defeat to Tottenham has been particularly damning. Aside from the embarrassment of losing at Old Trafford, the squad Ten Hag chose looked unorganised, uninspired, and chaotic, despite featuring eight players who made their debuts under his leadership.

With speculation surrounding Ten Hag’s future comes further theories as to who could take over, and former Arsenal defender Martin Keown reckons Ruud van Nistelrooy’s actions on the touchline indicate that he could be in line to take over.

“I’m looking at Van Nistelrooy. Is he giving everything to this manager? This manager looks very lonely on the sideline,” Keown said on talkSPORT.

“Is Van Nistelrooy waiting to take over? Because it looks as if there’s going to be change taking place there.

“Is everyone adding to the group? I’m not seeing that from Van Nistelrooy. Ten Hag is just sitting there, nothing going on, no conversation. Pep [Guardiola] goes back and speaks to the gurus next to him. Is everybody looking in the mirror at themselves giving their best?

“It doesn’t look like the players are committed. It doesn’t look like the staff are particularly committed. It’s a lone man in the dugout. You hope that that group of players is there in the dressing room right now and maybe tries to police it because it’s not unusual.

“It wouldn’t have been [unusual] in our dressing room to have the occasional meeting where we had to try to bash out where things were wrong, where things weren’t going well.”

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