Gary Neville: Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd future largely depends on winning the FA Cup
Manchester United Legend Gary Neville says Erik ten Hag’s future at the club is now “largely dependent” on the FA Cup.
United escaped from Bournemouth with a 2-2 draw on Saturday, despite a controversial late VAR call going against the hosts, and head coach Ten Hag admitted they “didn’t deserve more” than the solitary point after another alarming display.
That result leaves United 13 points off fourth-placed Aston Villa, who have played a game more. With just six matches remaining for Ten Hag’s side, their prospects of making up that gap to the Champions League qualifying spots look unlikely.
The FA Cup looks like their only chance to salvage success from the season. United face Championship side Coventry at Wembley on Sunday in the semi-finals, with back-to-back final appearances in the competition under Ten Hag still a possibility.
Having won the Carabao Cup in his first season in charge, only more domestic silverware could save under-pressure Ten Hag’s position at United, says Neville.
“They have just got to try get to the end of the season and win the FA Cup which is not going to be easy,” said the former United captain on the Gary Neville podcast.
“They have to win next weekend as the season will be over if they don’t. Erik ten Hag has got to look at this season whereby he could finish his first two seasons with two trophies in the bank, one in each season. That should never be sniffed at.
United beat Liverpool in a thrilling FA Cup quarter-final before the March international break and Ten Hag said afterwards he believed it could be a turning point for his side.
But since resuming action, United have failed to win a match and put in highly-criticised performances at Brentford and Bournemouth, as well as throwing away a lead to lose at Chelsea.
Neville says that while the poor displays may have now become familiar to United supporters, Ten Hag cannot rely on injuries which have hit his squad as an excuse.
“There’s nothing more to say we’ve seen it all before,” said Neville about the team’s recent form.
“It’s a repeat of what’s happened over the last six, seven, eight years with managers in their second or third seasons at Manchester United where there seems to be that breakdown at the end.
“The main thing is the performance levels and we’ve seen at Brentford, we’ve now seen at Bournemouth, they are really low performance levels which is a worry.
“I know people point towards the injuries and Manchester United have had a mountain of injuries but I said the same against Liverpool, nine of that team that started on Saturday would probably be in the starting XI if everyone was fit.
