Manchester United legend Teddy Sheringham has slammed current manager Erik ten Hag for only delivering unimportant trophies like the FA Cup and Carabao Cup.
Sheringham, speaking at the launch of Ladbrokes’ “Gaffer of all Accas”, made it clear he expects Ten Hag will be gone by Christmas, even though he admits it’s never nice to see managers losing their jobs.
The Dutch tactician has divided opinion during his time at Man Utd so far, winning two domestic cups in two seasons but generally under-achieving a lot in the competitions that matter – the Premier League and Champions League.
Some Red Devils fans will no doubt have enjoyed the silverware that Ten Hag has delivered, particularly as that FA Cup final win back in May came against bitter rivals Manchester City, but they will also be well aware that the football being produced by this expensively-assembled squad most weeks is far from good enough.
Sheringham certainly doesn’t seem impressed and has even dismissed the cup competitions altogether, as they weren’t ever seen as anything but a nice bonus when he was playing at Old Trafford during the Sir Alex Ferguson years.
“When you’re finishing eighth in the Premier League, that’s quite clearly not good enough, for Man United. Full stop. End of story, for me. You’ve got to change what’s going on,” Sheringham said.
“When you look at the inconsistency of last season, and that has followed on, without a shadow of the doubt in the first three games of this season… you can see there’s been no change whatsoever. Different players, maybe. But still no change in the philosophy, and the way Erik ten Hag wants to play.
“Look, I don’t want to see people getting sacked, It’s not nice to say that people shouldn’t be in certain positions, but he shouldn’t be there. It’s not good enough for Man United. They’ve fallen way below the expectancy levels, and to think that it’s alright to finish eighth… it’s just wrong.
“Do I think the manager will be there at the end of the season? No, I don’t. I think he’ll be gone by Christmas. I understand what he’s saying about the fact he’s won trophies, but the trophies that he’s talking about are the League Cup, and the FA Cup. The League Cup, when I was playing for Man United, was an afterthought. If we managed to get to the final of that competition, then great. But that’s not important; what’s important is the Premier League and the Champions League, and then the FA Cup. Even the FA Cup wasn’t that important, really, if I’m being completely honest.
“The two main things were the league, without a shadow of a doubt, and the Champions League. The FA Cup was third on the list, and it was brilliant to win it, don’t get me wrong. And it was so impressive, the way they went about beating Man City in the final last year… but that is not what Man United should be setting out to achieve at the start of a season. It’s as simple as that.
“Silverware is great, if it was for any other club in the country, and it’s great that they’ve won trophies in the last couple of years. But it’s not enough, when you look at where Manchester United were, 25 years ago. I know we’re talking about a long time ago, but those are the standards we’re talking about, and that’s what fans have come to expect at Old Trafford.”
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