Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s arrival at Old Trafford means Erik ten Hag is a “dead man walking” at Man Utd, according to former Premier League striker Chris Sutton.
The Red Devils are now winless in four matches in all competitions with losses to Bournemouth, Bayern Munich and West Ham coming either side of a 0-0 draw against Liverpool at Anfield.
Their latest poor performance came at West Ham over the weekend and that 2-0 defeat has piled the pressure on Ten Hag ahead of the new year.
Man Utd head into the 19th round of Premier League fixtures in eighth position in the table and out of both the Champions League and League Cup.
They are finding it particularly hard to score goals in the Premier League with Man Utd hitting the back of the net just 18 times in 18 matches.
And, with the announcement that Sir Jim Ratcliffe will receive a 25 per cent stake in the club, Daily Mail football editor Ian Ladyman and Sutton reckon it’s only a matter of time before Ten Hag loses his job at Old Trafford.
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“You and I have defender Erik ten Hag and stuck up for him, talking about the good things he’s done at Manchester United and the need for patience,” Ladyman told a festive edition of the It’s All Kicking Off podcast.
“I tell you what, right now, in advance of Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS investment arriving at Old Trafford pretty soon, he’s a dead man walking.
“He looks like a dead man walking to me now and I hate to say that. He’s sleepwalking, he looks to me like he’s sleepwalking towards the door.”
Sutton agreed and replied: “I think that, yes. I’d love to know when. I’d love to go back and remember when I described him as a ‘Eric 10 games’. I wouldn’t be too far off with that.
“I think your terminology of a dead man walking is right.
“What really worries me about him at this moment in time is that I don’t know what game he’s watching when he comes out afterwards and says that they performed well.
“You know they didn’t perform well by Manchester United’s standards against West Ham. They didn’t perform well when we sat at Old Trafford and Bayern Munich won without breaking sweat.
“That’s a major worry and there are issues all over the park. I mean, where do you start?”
Former Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea striker Sutton expressed his sympathy for Man Utd summer signing Rasmus Hojlund when delving deeper into the club’s issues.
Sutton added: “I’ve been there as a centre forward where he seems to have real doubts and a lack of understanding about what his actual role is.
“He seems to have lost confidence because of that. He is hesitating and that’s a massive problem.
“Do we blame him for that? Do we really know how good he is? Of course we don’t because he has two wide players who simply give you the ball when they’re finished with it.
“That is a nightmare situation to be in.”
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