Erik ten Hag backed by senior players to turn Man Utd around

Erik ten Hag has support within the Manchester United dressing room among senior players as he fights for his future at the club.

Telegraph Sport has been told that while players are unhappy at their downturn in form, which reached a new low in a ‘disgusting’ defeat by Tottenham, Ten Hag has backing within the team to turn things around.

Ten Hag is expected to be in charge for the fixtures against Porto on Thursday and at Aston Villa on Sunday but pressure is rising on the Dutchman ahead of two critical matches for his prospects. While players are fully aware the spotlight is on Ten Hag’s future – just as it was ahead of last season’s FA Cup final – they believe they can reverse their recent run of results.

United sources accept that during slumps of form not every player will be happy, although a run of wins can lift the club from 13th in the Premier League and change the complexion of the season.

Many of the players have history with Ten Hag, either from reaching the Champions League semi-final with Ajax or winning domestic trophies at United, and there is a feeling that current problems can be addressed.

Ten Hag managed to pull off a stunning win at Wembley against Manchester City to win the FA Cup in a “reset” moment for the club, and he is looking for the same again.

Ten Hag needs a positive result against Porto to ease the pressure. Former United captain Gary Neville said their performance against Tottenham was “disgusting” and added: “There is no doubt that something is going wrong in that dressing room.”

Neville pointed to Christian Eriksen’s comments after the draw against Twente that their opponents “looked like they wanted it more than us and that can’t be right”. He added that the issue had been raised in a dressing-room inquest after the match.

Ten Hag now has a squad that he shaped after five transfer windows. His faith in players from his Ajax team that reached the 2019 Champions League semi-finals has been apparent during his two years at United, with £85 million winger Antony one of his first major signings. Ten Hag kept faith in Andre Onana despite the goalkeeper’s high-profile mistakes last season, while Lisandro Martínez has proved an excellent recruit when fit.

Last summer Ten Hag signed Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui from Bayern Munich — both of whom he managed at Ajax — although he insisted they were club signings under the new recruitment structure set up following Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment in the club. Netherlands striker Joshua Zirkzee also arrived for £36.5million.

Ten Hag has highlighted a change in policy at United that has seen them target younger players rather than proven trophy-winners, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Raphael Varane among those to have departed.

“Those are the choices we have made in the last two seasons — and I understand the impression that many have for Manchester United because the history is so big,” Ten Hag said. “But those are the choices we have made — it has something to do with financials and other restrictions we have to deal with.

“We made the choice for younger players and you can’t expect them to be at the [top] level. We have to improve them and they have to improve themselves, and we have to find a team that can be successful on a consistent basis.”