Man Utd: Carragher reveals what he and Neville really thought of Ten Hag in person
Jamie Carragher admits he thought former Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag lacked “charisma” after interviewing him with Gary Neville early on his reign.
The Dutchman had a promising first season in charge at Old Trafford with Ten Hag leading the Red Devils to an FA Cup final, League Cup glory and a top-four finish in the Premier League.
Despite a shock FA Cup final win over arch-rivals Man City last term, Man Utd could only finish eighth in the Premier League and there was an expectation that INEOS would sack Ten Hag.
However, they decided to keep him on and offer him a one-year extension over the summer after speaking with a number of potential replacements.
That proved to be a mistake as they fired Ten Hag just nine matches into the new Premier League season with Man Utd winning just a third of those fixtures.
And former Liverpool defender Carragher admits he and fellow Sky Sports pundit Neville got a feeling that Ten Hag lacked an “X-factor” during an interview after his first two matches as Man Utd boss.
Carragher wrote in his Daily Telegraph column: “The most successful have an aura and personality.
“Only those working in the same environment can offer a first-hand account of how the manager operates behind the scenes, but for those of us on the outside looking in, perceptions matter.
“Without dwelling too much on United’s recent past, this was a red flag against Ten Hag from day one.
“Two games into his reign, Gary Neville and I had the pleasure of interviewing Ten Hag at United’s training ground. He was a polite guy but there was no sense of an x-factor.
“Driving away from the meeting that day, I turned to Gary and said: ‘He must be a supercoach because there isn’t much charisma.'”
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Ruben Amorim has now replaced Ten Hag as the Man Utd manager and former Red Devils striker Teddy Sheringham is pleased with the choice to appoint the ex-Sporting Lisbon boss.
Sheringham said recently: “At the end of the day, we had enough of Ten Hag. I said he should have been gone ages ago. I’m surprised he lasted that long, especially with where he’s got Man United in the league.
“The Premier League is what it’s all about for Man United, for my liking. I know he won the FA Cup with one outstanding performance, but he should have gone in the summer.
“The decision to appoint Ruben Amorim is not before time. It looks like they’ve picked the best man, the right man for the job to come in. They must have thought long and hard about it, about where they were going to go.
“They got an extra two or three months to find the right man after clearly having doubts about Ten Hag in the summer.
“With the decision to bring him in, obviously there’s a few months gone in the season. It’s not the end of the world, that they’ve got a new manager in now. Things change very quickly. Everyone’s saying Man United are miles off of being the top club that they used to be, but if a manager comes in and gets it right, it can all change at Manchester United.”
