F365 interview: Hargreaves gives Ten Hag ‘chance’ to avoid Man Utd sack if he does one thing

Former Man Utd midfielder Owen Hargreaves has insisted Erik ten Hag needs to be given time to silence his doubters at Old Trafford.

Man Utd chiefs spoke to other managers as they pondered Ten Hag’s position back in June, but they opted to stick with the Dutchman despite reportedly holding talks with Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, among others.

Ten Hag came under fire once again after Man Utd stumbled to defeats against Brighton and Liverpool at the start of the new Premier League season, yet the pressure was relieved a little after last Saturday’s 3-0 win at Southampton .

Now Hargreaves has told Football365 that Ten Hag needs to be given time to work with his reshaped United team, with the relentless pressure undermining his hopes of success.

“People have a right to be critical of the way United played over the past couple of seasons,” TNT Sports pundit Hargreaves told us.

“In the end, Erik will tell you they have won a couple of trophies and that is a great point. It hasn’t been the prettiest football at times, but has won trophies and that has kept him in a job.

“Now United have had a difficult start to the season. The Brighton and Liverpool games were not great, but they have a lot of good players and they have to be given time to come good.

“You look at all the top teams and you know who is going to play every week, but you don’t know that with United. You don’t know who their centre-back partnership is going to be, who will be out wide, who is up front.

“Ten Hag needs to settle on who is his best team and he needs to decide on his best team. If he can do that, he will think he has a chance.

“They are in the Europa League this season and that is a competition they can win. We saw how they did in the Champions League last season and that was not great, to be polite. I think they are better off being in a competition they can win this season.

“It is a long season for a reason and you need to give players and managers time. You can’t decide after three or four games to make big changes.”

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Hargreaves believes the volatile nature of football management makes it one of the toughest jobs to succeed in, with the constant pressure Ten Hag is working under evidence of the stress of top tier coaching.

“I’d say football management is one of the hardest jobs in the world,” the former Man Utd midfielder added. “People look at it and say it’s highly paid and a great job, but I know guys who have been in management and they are up in the middle of the night walking around the house trying to deal with all the pressures.

“It’s not just about picking players. You have tactics, you have to deal with the media before and after games.

“Then you have all the opinions coming at you, you deal with chairmen and agents, but it all comes down to how you manage people. You have to be good with different types of people.

“The guys that come and go are a little too emotional at times. You have to try and be patient. It’s all about hanging in there in the tough times.”

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