“Unacceptable” – Gary Lineker names Erik ten Hag’s biggest mistake at Man United

Gary Lineker has named one ‘unacceptable’ mistake that Erik ten Hag has made since he took over Manchester United.

The Reds have had a promising season during Ten Hag’s debut campaign at the club, finishing third in the Premier League and winning the Carabao Cup.

However, this term has not turned out as expected so far. United only have a slim chance of qualification from their Champions League group, yet it’s been the performance levels that have disappointed most.

Lineker, who played for the likes of Leicester City, Everton and Barcelona, believes that Ten Hag has not been able to deal with the players in the right way at Old Trafford.

The former Premier League striker has criticised the Dutch manager’s approach in interviews, where he has previously criticised Jadon Sancho’s training performance and admitted to leaving Raphael Varane out of the team for tactical reasons.

“It’s hard to tell with these player power things but it felt like they downtooled a little bit at the weekend against Newcastle, that’s for sure,” Lineker said on The Rest Is Football Podcast. “They didn’t exactly put too much effort in.

“I mean, sometimes that can be confused with a lack of confidence and when you are losing your way on the pitch. But generally, it is the manager that suffers under these circumstances.

“But talking about player power, certainly in the modern age, managing has changed. You have to have the players on board, you can’t just go around b******ing players, in fact, it was always a no-go when you go public with players.

“I think that is the one area that I would criticise Ten Hag a little bit – I don’t think he’s handled situations brilliantly with various players. He’s had a lot to deal with, but he’s repeatedly been critical openly and publicly, and that is the one thing, even when I played, that was unacceptable.

“You could take any type of b******ing in the dressing room, but anything a manager does to put you down publicly is a no-no.”