[Exclusive]: Manchester United players turn on Erik ten Hag over treatment of Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire

by TheTelegraph

15 comments

  1. ***A Telegraph exclusive from sports news correspondents Mike McGrath, John Percy and Tom Morgan:***

    Manchester United players are questioning Erik ten Hag’s strict methods in his handling of Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire with the Dutch manager heading into a crucial run of matches that could potentially decide his fate.

    It is understood a number of players in Ten Hag’s squad privately have not agreed with his hardline stance on his own players.

    Recently, Sancho has not been with the first team after the manager accused him of training poorly, sparking a public rift. Maguire, the club captain until this season, also spent long spells out of the first team after being stripped of the armband, before winning his place back through injuries to other defenders.

    Ten Hag has not been afraid of falling out with his players, with Cristiano Ronaldo leaving the club acrimoniously last season yet United went on to finish in the top four and win the EFL Cup.

    However, this season they have lost eight out of 16 games with fans turning on Ten Hag after recent defeats, and the club have now lost 15 of their last 50 matches under the current manager – three more than in the same number of fixtures in the final months of predecessor Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s reign. United have also scored 12 goals fewer and conceded twice more when compared with the same period.

    Ten Hag does still have some loyalists within the squad, though, who remain convinced that his authoritarian approach is what’s needed to turn United around.

    Ten Hag admitted it was “logical” for questions over his tenure after two humbling defeats at Old Trafford by Manchester City and Newcastle, within the space of four days. He now has potentially pivotal matches in the space of a week where he faces Fulham and Luton in the Premier League and FC Copenhagen to salvage their Champions League campaign.

    After the 3-0 defeat by Newcastle, Ten Hag had insisted players in his first team must stick together to fight their way out of trouble and urged players to “cooperate”.

    “It’s the only way we can do this. Shoulder by shoulder. Then we will come through this,” Ten Hag said. He added: “You have to be disciplined and do it with togetherness, everyone takes responsibility and be accountable. Co-operate – that is the key word.”

    His future will be in sharp focus during the upcoming run of three matches in seven days ahead of the international break. Fulham represents a difficult challenge at the weekend before United will look to build on their win against Copenhagen at home when they needed a last-gasp Andre Onana penalty save to record their first European victory this season.

    The fixture against Luton will be one Ten Hag is expected to win heading into the two weeks without a match, where clubs often assess their season and what will be needed in the second half of the campaign and in the January transfer market.

    Ten Hag could point to having virtually his whole first-choice back four missing for recent matches. His fitness concerns at the back continued this week when Raphael Varane fell ill on Monday and was understood to be on antibiotics in his bid to return to action. Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw are also currently sidelined with Aaron Wan-Bissaka only just back from injury.

    United’s manager has one full season left on his contract at Old Trafford and has talked about fighting his way out of trouble. He was backed in the summer window with Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount and Andre Onana but his signings have not been consistent.

    The backdrop to the slump has been a potential takeover, which is now expected to see Sir Jim Ratcliffe take control of 25 per cent of the club, which has led to uncertainty over who will remain if he takes control of football operations.

    Ratcliffe’s proposed deal worth up to £1.35 billion is still advancing but final negotiations are still being thrashed out, with no imminent announcement anticipated within the next week.

    Sources maintain that a deal remains within sight, and the sale is not believed to be in jeopardy despite ongoing delays.

    **Link to the article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2023/11/02/manchester-united-players-turn-erik-ten-hag-sancho-maguire/**

  3. He can’t win really. If he goes easy on Sancho, they see him as a pushover and think they can get away with anything, but if he’s hard on him they don’t like it and think he’s (Sancho) being treated unfairly.

  4. Ah, the infamous Old Trafford dressing room leaks strike again.

  5. And here come the player leaks. Embarrassing mentality. Won’t bother speculating on who the aforementioned player(s) are (though I have my suspicions) but looks like Player Power™️ is gonna win again as another round of players quitting on a manager goes unpunished when they don’t get their way.

  6. Laugh or whatever you want, but I’m passionate about my club that I’ve supported for 40 years. I’m a season ticket holder and will remain so for life.

    United are paying the price for standing still while revenues have never been higher.

    We would’ve spent £2Bn on players without the Glazers so that argument doesn’t hold any water. This is money that United generate, not the Galzers money.

    However, what we could’ve done with the £1.5Bn that has been siphoned out of the club to pay interest on the debt used to purchase the club in the first place…. We could’ve invested in sporting structure and training/stadium facilities.

    When SAF left, then was the time to invest into sporting structure. Bringing in the right footballing people to make footballing decisions. Instead the owners solely focused on the commercial aspects of what the club can achieve and what could bring them the most gain.

    We don’t need Ratcliffe or disgusting State Ownership. We just needed the club to be run as a football club and not for the owners self gain.

    It’ll take decades for us to catch up to these State owned, soulless clubs. We won’t be a force again for at least 20 years. It is the owners fault and everyone knows it.

  7. So who runs the club, the players? Why is it the players who always turn on the manager at Manchester United? Because they can’t face the truth? Management need to realize who’s in charge here. I swear players come to this club because they know they can come here with a fat wage and tell the managers to kick it.

    Maybe this is why managers have come and go, because the dressing room has become a mafia that nobody can control. And the older generation teach it to the younger generation, so the cycle continues. Ten hag needs to stay and win this fight. People rag on ETH but why is it that managers are constantly trying to “tame” the Man U dressing room.

  9. Imagine being so fragile that you need to leak out information about the manager, bunch of cowards

  10. Ah because it’s two such world class players that are worth them dumping yet another manager

  11. I think there’s some real difficult questions to be asked about who is the one leaking all the stuff. There are a handful of players that have been there the whole time

  12. Maguire was surplus to requirements but happy to stay on the gravy train as a bench player. I don’t see how he’s been mistreated at all

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