Journalist reveals Man Utd coach ‘stormed through the press box effing and blinding’ after Spurs ‘mess’

Joe Williams
Man Utd coach Darren Fletcher
Darren Fletcher throws a ball during a pre-match training session.

Man Utd coach Darren Fletcher took journalists by surprise when he “stormed through the press box’ swearing in their defeat to Tottenham on Sunday.

The Red Devils succumbed to a miserable 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, piling pressure on the Dutchman and testing the patience of INEOS, which now controls football operations at Old Trafford under its chairman and chief executive Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Speculation is mounting that Erik ten Hag’s days at Man Utd are now numbered, despite the club putting their faith in him over the summer and extending his contract.

Man Utd have been described as a “mess” by former England striker Alan Shearer, while BBC Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker felt the players looked like “lost souls” against Tottenham.

Shearer, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, said: “Can anyone tell me what Manchester United are?

“What is their system? What is their plan? Do they sit, do they attack, do they press? I don’t know. I don’t have a clue what they are. They are a mess.”

Co-presenter Micah Richards said United had been inconsistent, to which Shearer replied: “Inconsistent? They’re 12th in the league. That means they’re not inconsistent, they’re bloody awful. That means they’re consistently not very good.”

Shearer said United’s players could not “hide behind” Ten Hag, but Lineker said: “It’s hard to see him turning this around now. He must be under terrible pressure. Who knows what the owners think?

“They look like lost souls.”

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The red card for Bruno Fernandes was one of the lowlights of Sunday’s meek surrender, but the Portuguese star was determined to move on and concentrate on the midweek trip to his home city.

“It’s a side that always does really well in Europe, we have to be aware of that,” Fernandes told MUTV.

“It’s a team that has a great spirit, (are) improving a lot in the last few games, even if they lost the last game in the Europa League.

“We expect a really difficult game there, but we go there to win because it’s everything that we have to think about.”

And Manchester Evening News reporter Samuel Luckhurst saw Man Utd coach Fletcher storming through the press box swearing after watching Fernandes’ sending off.

Luckhurst wrote:

‘United coach Darren Fletcher stormed through the press box effing and blinding. The booing at half-time from United supporters seemed to be aimed more at referee Chris Kavanagh for having the temerity to dismiss Fernandes than their own team’s hopelessness. Some United staff also vented about the decision.’