Man Utd: Liverpool legend claims his ‘cleaner would do a better job’ than Ten Hag; Reds ‘dodged a bullet’

Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson insists his “cleaner would do a better job” than Man Utd manager Erik ten Hag this season.

The Red Devils had a promising first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman guiding them to an FA Cup final, League Cup silverware and a top-four finish in the Premier League.

But Ten Hag has found it hard to replicate the same results this season with Man Utd are currently seventh and eight points off fourth-placed Tottenham, while they are out of the Champions League and League Cup.

Their 4-3 victory over Wolves on Thursday night was only their second win in their last seven Premier League matches and former Liverpool defender Lawrenson has not been impressed by the Man Utd boss this season.

Speaking to Paddy Power, Lawrenson said: “My cleaner would do a better job than Erik ten Hag! He’s been a bit unlucky, but he’s not handled some of the situations very well. They [Manchester United] had a decent season last year and they won the Carabao Cup but he’s not been able to turn the ship round.”

On his side’s performance after a breathless match against Wolves, Ten Hag said: “To be honest, I had mixed feelings. One side very pleased, of course it’s a massive win this.

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“I think for a neutral fan, spectator of this game, it was great to see but as a manager when you see you dominate a game for an hour, you should go 3 or 4-0 by the hour, because we had the chances and we conceded nothing.

“But then the way we concede the goals we should manage that better on the pitch, this can’t happen.”

Lawrenson touched on a number of issues during his interview with Paddy Power and the Liverpool legend reckons the Reds “dodged a bullet” by not signing Chelsea midfielder Moises Caicedo in the summer.

Lawrenson added: “On the way that Chelsea are playing, I think Liverpool dodged a bullet not signing Moises Caicedo this summer. Last May/June, Liverpool had no midfield players, and we all wondered what was going to happen.

“It was funny in the match against Chelsea, watching the Liverpool fans chant about the midfield players they didn’t get. The players Liverpool have signed have contributed in every way – there’s goals from them and they’ve settled into a nice three. Even Wataru Endo, who looks a little bit lightweight, has done well. I do believe that has a lot to do with Jürgen Klopp and the way that he manages.

“To be fair to Mauricio Pochettino, he has so many players. I don’t even think he knows what his best team is. If you have such a big group, it’s difficult to be personal with everyone. Is that arm around you laughing? People still love to play for him.”