Keane makes blunt Erik ten Hag sack prediction after 'unimpressive' Wigan win

08 January 2024 , 23:04

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Roy Keane was not impressed with Erik ten Hag's interview (Image: ITV)

Roy Keane believes that Erik ten Hag will be sacked as Manchester United manager "in the next few months".

Ten Hag guided his side into the fourth round of the FA Cup on Monday night with a comfortable yet unspectacular 2-0 win over Wigan. Diogo Dalot opened the scoring from the edge of the box before Bruno Fernandes made the game safe with a penalty in the second half.

But United failed to make the most of their numerous chances against the League One side, with Rasmus Hojlund particularly guilty of poor finishing, while Andre Onana was required to make some crucial stops. United will face Newport or Eastleigh in the next round, while their next game comes against Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.

Former United captain Keane was on punditry duty for ITV and was not impressed by what he saw from his old side. Asked if he could see the DNA Ten Hag was trying to establish, Keane replied: “No, not really. I think that’s the problem with United, you know what you’re going to get when you turn up.

“The manager there mentions the ‘project’ – it probably means he’ll be gone in the next few months. This dreaded word ‘project’. No, I didn’t see it tonight with United and I’ve not seen it for the last few months. But, again, they’re in the next round and it’s an easy draw the next time round, but you need a better level of performance. And the chances they made tonight, you always expect more.”

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Ten Hag had earlier been asked about what Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s purchase of 25 per cent of the club meant for him. He told ITV: "It is an inspiration. Everyone is optimistic. There is a lot of work to do. We've had a lot of setbacks and I think in the summer we were in a good way but it is a journey, it is a project and now we have to deal with some setbacks but we will keep alive, survive it and strike back."

Erik ten Hag oversaw a 2-0 win over Wigan (Richard Sellers/Getty Images)

Asked about the performance of his side, he said: “ The FA Cup is all about winning, it is knockout. You want to finish the job. That is what I said in the dressing room 'job done'."

Asked if United should have scored more goals, given the missed chances by Hojlund, Scott McTominay and Marcus Rashford, he added: "Oh, definitely. In the first half, I think we created five or six very good chances. I think it was very good football. We should have taken more, but if you don't score you have to stay focused and I think we did that tonight.

“You can't always say why you've missed chances. There were some good attacks and good chances, but we didn't take them, but the way we created them was OK."

Felix Keith