‘Enormous’ week ‘could break’ Man Utd with Villa, Porto tipped to get Ten Hag sacked

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could lose his job this week, says former Red Devils striker Dwight Yorke.

Ten Hag is under severe pressure after Sunday’s embarrassing 3-0 home defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham.

The level of comfort throughout the game for the visitors was remarkable, summed up by the opening goal in the third minute when Micky van de Ven ran 60 yards unopposed to assist Brennan Johnson at the back post – who was also given the freedom of Old Trafford.

Every Man Utd player was absolutely atrocious but the blame always falls onto the manager in these situations.

Fans and pundits are calling for Ten Hag’s head and he has two very difficult fixtures this week. It feels like the writing is on the wall.

The Red Devils face FC Porto away from home in the Europa League on Thursday, the club’s most difficult league phase match, before a trip to Aston Villa on Sunday.

It looks very bleak for Ten Hag, who has to get a positive result in both matches to save his job, according to club icon Yorke.

The former Premier League striker believes Villa will be there to kick Man Utd while they’re down and says this week “could make or break” Ten Hag.

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“The record shows that United always get the better of Villa at Villa Park, but I think the shoe is now on the other foot,” he said. “I think that Villa will be very, very confident.

“This could be the deciding factor for Erik ten Hag, too. I think it’s at that stage where ten Hag cannot afford to lose.

“The distraction would be that we play Porto in the Europa League, and then the attention is quickly back on the Premier League, and with that comes enormous scrutiny on the back of such a heavy defeat against Tottenham.

“Villa Park is not the easiest place to go and get a result, and I’m not sure he’ll be looking forward to this.

“It could end really badly for him this week if he does not get the players back to doing what they should, in terms of digging the club out of the hole they’ve dug for themselves.

“This is enormous. I think this could make or break him at United to be honest.”

Yorke also insists that not only Ten Hag should be held accountable for Sunday’s defeat to Spurs.

“Both have to take responsibility,” he added. “The manager sets his stall out and tells the players what he’s expecting. All that has been briefed at the team talk.

“Now, when you deliver that team talk, the ideas and what the club is about, and how to win the match, the players have to engage and buy into what he’s saying.

“Ten Hag has to transfer that energy so that the players can go out and express themselves in the way the manager has described. Both players and manager are responsible for that. The manager can only put across a certain amount of ideas, and then it’s down to the players. That’s how it works.”

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