Erik ten Hag will leave Manchester United as his football is ‘still not worth watching’ but there are ‘serious problems’ at the club out of his control.
That’s according to journalist Wim Kieft, who believes Ten Hag is in the final months of his time at Old Trafford and will be on his way in the summer.
The Dutch coach is enduring something of a difficult second season at Manchester United following a solid first season that saw them qualify for the Champions League and win the Carabao Cup.
After early struggles Ten Hag appeared to have adapted his system last season to get the best out of his squad, with Manchester United enjoying a solid campaign by the end of it.
Old problems have reared their head again this season, though, with Manchester United outside of the top four and many questioning the job Ten Hag is doing.
The biggest questions are often about the style of play at Old Trafford, or at least a perceived lack of one being in place, with the Dutch coach seemingly unable to implement the distinctive style from Ajax that had made him so sought after in the first place.
That’s led to doubts about his future, particularly with Jim Ratcliffe now in charge of football operations at the club and non-committal on Ten Hag when discussing various matters at the club earlier this year.
Kieft is convinced that he will be departing in the summer because of the football, but also bigger issues in play at Manchester United.
“He and Guardiola have spent about the same on new players over the last two seasons,” he told De Telegraaf.
“Both total more than 400 million euros. Ten Hag did not manage to get his way of playing at United. Not that he invented the way of playing at Ajax, by the way.
“The football at Manchester United is still not worth watching and that is why I expect Ten Hag to be in his last year. The environment in which he has to work at United is also completely different from that at City.
“You see a certain atmosphere among the neighbours, there is a true football culture and everything at the top resembles a team. Txiki Begiristain is the technical director and, apart from Guardiola, he works with more former Barcelona people.
“United hasn’t had a team like that for a long time. There must be something seriously wrong with that club. Because Mourinho and Van Gaal were not small trainers who died there either.”
