Man Utd star ‘perplexed’ by £64m signing; Red Devil claims Ten Hag decision ‘came out of nowhere’

According to reports, ‘some time-served’ Manchester United players have been ‘startled by the calibre of Erik ten Hag’s signings’.

Man Utd’s players are seemingly growing tired of Ten Hag as Sky Sports revealed on Monday that the Dutchman has “lost 50%” of the dressing room.

Ten Hag enjoyed a strong debut season at Old Trafford as he lifted the Carabao Cup and helped United finish third in the Premier League.

But the 2023/24 campaign has been a disaster. After being prematurely eliminated from the Carabao Cup, they are expected to be dumped out of the Champions League at the group stage and they are seventh in the Premier League.

Man Utd‘s success rate in the transfer market under Ten Hag has been pretty poor as most of his signings have not worked.

A report from Manchester Evening News claims ‘some time-served players are startled by the calibre of Ten Hag’s signings’, while ‘one is believed to be particularly perplexed by the addition of the callow Rasmus Hojlund’.

Interstingly, Hojlund has arguably been one of United’s better performers this term. He has five goals in the Champions League but he is one of the worst finishers in the Premier League and is without a goal in ten games. 

The report adds: ‘Antony, Wout Weghorst, who managed two goals in 31 appearances, and Mason Mount are among the other signings who have been questioned by players.’

The report from Manchester Evening News claims Ten Hag’s decision to ‘revert to a diamond formation’ against Brighton ‘came out of nowhere’.

‘Several players blame Ten Hag for the regularity of the losses due to the similarity of United’s performance level. United players are understood to have been specifically surprised by Ten Hag’s sudden tactical shift for the 3-1 home defeat to Brighton in September.

‘United reverted to a diamond formation and a source close to one of the players said the tweak “came out of nowhere”.

‘There are concerns among the United hierarchy that some players are demotivated. Anthony Martial has been identified as one of the prime players who is not invested enough in helping United to succeed while there are growing issues over Marcus Rashford.’

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Daniel Sturridge recently encouraged Hojlund to form a “relationship with Bruno Fernandes” so he can get more chances.

“You think here at this moment, if he (Hojlund) had a relationship with Bruno (Fernandes) and they are going to build that relationship over time, maybe he plays that ball in behind,” Sturridge said.

“He’s made that run off the defender, he’s looked over his left and he is on the right shoulder, and clearly the ball across the box isn’t great and it would have had to have been a perfect cross to be a goal. I don’t think he can do much there.

“Over time, it will change. He has to have those conversations and tell them what he likes. We know Rashford has the ability to manipulate the ball and score goals, we know Bruno Fernandes has the ability to score long shots, but he’s got to have these conversations about this is what I like and with the ball up here, I am going to make this run and feed me in.”