Man Utd: Ten Hag under pressure from Ratcliffe as ‘latest anaemic no-show’ has ‘gone down badly’

Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag is under increasing pressure to turn around performances after drawing at Brentford, according to reports.

The Red Devils had a positive first season under Ten Hag with the Dutchman guiding his side to an FA Cup final, Carabao Cup glory and a top-four finish in the Premier League.

Liverpool result gave fans false hope

However, things haven’t gone to plan this term with Man Utd finishing bottom of their Champions League group and crashing out of Europe, while the sixth-placed Red Devils are currently struggling for consistency in the Premier League.

A disappointing 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham and a loss at arch-rivals Man City saw pressure build on Ten Hag again but their 4-3 win over arch-rivals Liverpool in the FA Cup quarter-finals again gave the Dutchman some breathing room.

But Man Utd followed that up with a poor display against Brentford on Saturday in which they undeservedly took a 1-0 lead six minutes into second-half injury time, only to still throw away two points as the Bees equalised three minutes later.

Man Utd allowed Brentford to have 31 shots on their goal during the match and Thomas Frank’s side will be disappointed not to have comfortably beaten Ten Hag’s men.

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Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has played down any final decision on Ten Hag’s future, writing in his Caught Offside column he commented: “It was another difficult result for Manchester United yesterday, so what does this mean for Erik ten Hag’s future as we continue to see new managers linked with the job at Old Trafford?

“It’s something normal when you have new (co) owners to discuss the manager position internally. Conversations between INEOS and Ten Hag have always been good and positive in the recent months; but results in the final two months will be important to make a decision on Ten Hag. Also, Man United want to finalise their board structure before making any final decision on the manager.

“As I said last week, there have also not been any talks between United and Gareth Southgate, despite rumours. Let’s see how the season ends for Ten Hag, with nothing being decided now.”

Brentford draw has gone down badly in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s camp

But the Daily Telegraph insist that their poor performance against Fulham at the end of February and their display on Saturday against Brentford have ‘gone down badly in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s camp’.

James Ducker wrote in the Daily Telegraph:

‘The performance in the 2-1 defeat at home to Fulham five weeks ago had been dimly received by Ineos and the word was this latest anaemic no-show against Brentford had again gone down badly in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s camp. Even if Ten Hag is granted a stay of execution by United’s new kingpin and remains in charge come the start of next season, what is abundantly clear is that this sort of football is unsustainable in the longer-term.’