Ian Wright believes Manchester United should part ways with manager Erik ten Hag after Sir Jim Ratcliffe is announced as co-owner next week.
The British billionaire has acquired a 25% stake of the Old Trafford club and is expected to make major changes once he takes over the club’s footballing operations.
Man United CEO Richard Arnold will leave the club by the end of this month, and Wright wants Ten Hag to follow him out given the club’s lack of identity on the pitch.
The Arsenal legend was playing a game of ‘Keep, Last Straw or Ditch’ on The Overlap alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, and he opted for ‘Ditch’ when asked to decide the future of the Dutchman.
“Ditch – I’d get rid of him – I’d move him on,” Wright said.
“Oh wow. What reason?” Neville replied, with Keane clearly bemused (at 41:16 on the YouTube video)
“Well, when I look at United and the way they are playing, you only have to look at Ange Postecoglou and the way he has changed things so quickly and a pattern of play and how they want to do certain things, and I still haven’t seen that with United up until this point,” Wright continued.
“What I’m thinking with everything that has gone on, how long has he been there? Eighteen months. Come on man, we should be seeing a certain way that United are playing. They should be controlling games and winning games.”
Ajax had a style of play under Ten Hag but Man United have struggled to get an identity under him after almost two years in charge.
Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa all have distinct styles of play.
Unsurprisingly, they are currently above the Red Devils in the Premier League table.
Most other Premier League clubs have distinct patterns of play, and it is baffling that Man United often appear clueless on the pitch.
The club need a major squad overhaul if they want to become a force to be reckoned with once again, but they also need a manager who can get them playing a particular pattern.
However, Ratcliffe is likely to give Ten Hag time to prove himself, and the Dutchman could get the chance to show what he can do after he has been backed again in the upcoming transfer windows.
The Glazers have been awful owners, but it cannot be denied that they have given Ten Hag what he wants in the past transfer windows.
Whether he is the man to lead Man United to the next level remains to be seen, but he needs to start winning consistently following a woeful start to the season, and failure to do so could cost him his job.
