Man Utd boss Ten Hag hailed for ‘excellent’ work taming ‘bunch of rogues’ – but ’embarrassing’ problem remains
Paul Parker thinks Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag has “done excellent with a bunch of rogues” at his disposal over the last 12 months.
The Red Devils had a successful first season under the Dutchman with his side securing a top-four finish in the Premier League, an FA Cup final appearance and the League Cup trophy.
Ten Hag has had a number of issues to deal with since taking the role at Man Utd last summer with Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit probably the most challenging issue.
And former Man Utd defender Parker has praised Ten Hag for the “amazing job” he has done with a “terrible squad”.
Parker told bettors: “Honestly, everyone has an opinion about Erik ten Hag but we can’t question him. He has done excellent with a bunch of rogues. He got rid of Cristiano Ronaldo, which was a good decision. He wanted to do it earlier but he wasn’t allowed to because of PR-reasons, which tells me a lot about the problems that the club had.
“Good PR comes from good results on the pitch and not from having a big name running around. But Erik ten Hag has done an amazing job with a terrible squad. He had almost no players that he could rely on.
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“Now, he will try to get rid of more players, which will be tough. There will be a few who say that they don’t care about whether the manager likes them or not as long as they are getting their paycheck.
“It’s going to be a real challenge to get rid of the players because the club has bought some average players who are getting a way too high salary. That is really embarrassing to be honest and I don’t hope that the new owners will make the same mistake.”
On Ten Hag, Parker added: “Erik ten Hag arrived as a firefighter just like Sir Alex did. They had to fight fires. Erik ten hag has made some changes quite quickly and it took Sir Alex a bit longer to do that. Their way to arrive was very similar.
“They both got rid of some players and they had to juggle with the players they had. He is the only manager that reminds me a bit of Sir Alex since he left. Erik ten Hag will have a tougher time with getting rid of his players because agents have a bigger saying today.
“They are both very strong. Good communicators and they can run a dressing room very well. I just hope that the new owners will allow Erik ten Hag to work in his own tempo just as Sir Alex did.”
