Ex-Liverpool star slams Ten Hag and pinpoints five areas he's failing at Man Utd
Former Liverpool star Danny Murphy has launched a scathing attack on Erik ten Hag, insisting the Manchester United boss is failing at his job.
United have lost five of their opening 10 Premier League games and were defeated in both of their first two Champions League group games for the first time in their history. Their wretched form continued on Wednesday when Newcastle dumped them out of the Carabao Cup.
While some, including Red Devils legend Gary Neville, have pinned the blame on United's ownership, that argument does not wash with Murphy. Instead, he insisted that Ten Hag is failing to fix five key areas, which has led to his side's awful performances.
"There are some mitigating circumstances which need to be taken into consideration which have been well documented. The stuff off the field is something any manager will struggle with," Murphy told talkSPORT.
"But on the pitch, they are looking a million miles off it. There's only one person who deals with that and should take the blame for that really, which is the manager. The players have to take some.
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"But ultimately, the manager is the one who dictates the work ethic, the tactics, the tempo, the energy, the behaviour, or lack of behaviour. He dictates all of that, irrelevant of what's going on with the ownership.
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Erik ten Hag has been blasted for Manchester United's disastrous season (Alex Livesey/Getty Images)"Irrelevant of what's going on above him, that does not affect what you're doing on the training pitch. They are tactically inept, they are physically poorer than most teams they play against and I can't see what Manchester United are trying to do. I'm really looking, I'm really trying."
United were left embarrassed in the Manchester derby, with fierce rivals Manchester City smashing them 3-0 at Old Trafford. And Murphy believes that is indicative of a team who cannot compete at the top level.
"In isolation, that Man City game, you could take it on the chin because City are a wonderful side and United had their first-choice back four missing. But this isn't a one-off game," he added.
"They lost to Galatasaray. They lost at home to Brighton. They sneaked a last-minute winner over Brentford. They've been done at Tottenham, they've been done at Arsenal. Any time they play anyone decent, they get done.
"They're too easy to play against. I feel for Ten Hag because he's learning on the job and there is somehow, miraculously he might be able to turn it around. But he's got to start ruling with an iron fist.
"I said it on Match of the Day at the weekend, the repercussions for poor performances aren't there. If the repercussions aren't there you know what players will do, give an inch, take a yard. It will get a bit better than it is, but ultimately what I'm watching is a team lacking direction."
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