Man Utd boss Ten Hag ‘under the most pressure’ as he’s sent sack warning amid Slot comparison

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has been told he’s the Premier League manager “under the most pressure” ahead of the 2024/25 campaign.

The Red Devils were expected to sack Ten Hag after the 2023/24 season as they struggled en route to finishing eighth in the Premier League.

Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Gareth Southgate and Kieran McKenna were mooted as potential replacements but Man Utd ended up sticking with Ten Hag .

Man Utd ended the season positively as they beat arch-rivals Man City at Wembley in the FA Cup and earlier this summer, Ten Hag extended his contract until 2026.

It has been a busy few months at Old Trafford as new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has overseen a major overhaul on and off the pitch, with £150m being spent on signing Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui.

Given Man Utd reportedly came close to sacking Ten Hag last season, Stan Collymore thinks he is the Premier League manager “under the most pressure this season”.

“Erik ten Hag is the manager under the most pressure this season,” Collymore said in his column for Caught Offside .

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“He was given a contract extension at Man United not because he’s done well, but on the basis of ‘let’s make him feel a little bit calmer, a little more comfortable. We want to give him the benefit of the doubt.’

“Of course, United won the FA Cup against Manchester City, and if they hadn’t, ten Hag wouldn’t have kept his job.

“If my punditry and other people’s punditry – that has Manchester United back into the top four – is correct, but then they fizzle out, I think that ten Hag would find himself right on the edge.

“I don’t think there’s anything to worry about with West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui despite all of the new signings needing to gel, for the simple fact that he’s a good enough manager for that size of club and he will be able to get them to where they want to be; in the next two or three seasons getting into European football on a regular basis and maybe winning a domestic cup.

“I don’t think anybody would be tremendously shocked by that, so it should be a realistic aim for Lopetegui.

“He’ll have a bit of pressure yes, but I don’t think it’ll be anywhere near the same as the sort of glaring spotlight that’ll be on ten Hag at Manchester United.”

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Whereas, Collymore suspects Liverpool will back Arne Slot as long as they are not “marooned in 15th”.

“In terms of Arne Slot, I think Liverpool fans never really drive a manager out,” Collymore continued.

He added: “It’s massively unknown what’s going to happen, because they’ve just said goodbye to a really big personality, a big character and a leadership figure that everybody walked alongside.

“So from that perspective, Slot would only really be under pressure if the Reds were marooned in 14th or 15th in the table. Even then, I think that Liverpool would leave things to the end of the season before sacking him.”