Ten Hag labelled ‘crazy’ as Man Utd boss ‘lost everyone’s respect’ in one moment – ‘he has to leave’
Wesley Sneijder believes Erik ten Hag “lost” the Manchester United dressing room when he opted to axe club legend Cristiano Ronaldo and he “has to leave”.
Ten Hag is nearing the end of his second season as Man Utd’s head coach but he may not get a third as he is under increasing pressure heading into the summer.
After helping Man Utd win the Carabao Cup and finish third in the Premier League last season, Ten Hag’s side have declined this term.
They exited the Champions League and Carabao Cup prematurely, while they are sixth in the Premier League with four games remaining.
The Red Devils have reached the FA Cup final but a win at Wembley against Man City may not be enough to save Ten Hag amid reports suggesting Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Co. are interested in former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel, who is leaving Bayern Munich in the summer.
“He lost everyone’s respect there…”
Sneijder – who played alongside Ronaldo at Real Madrid – thinks Ten Hag “lost everyone’s respect” when he ousted the multiple-time Ballon d’Or winner as letting him leave was a “mistake”.
“He already made a mistake by competing with Ronaldo,” Sneijder said during his appearance on the Dutch TV show Veronica Offside.
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“He lost everyone’s respect there. He thought it would work the other way around, but of course not.
“Those guys in the dressing room thought, ‘Is this man crazy?'”
When asked about the possibility of Ten Hag being sacked at the end of the season, Sneijder added: “Of course, he already knows that he has to leave.
“But you’re not going to go yourself. If I was him, I would sit there comfortably [until he’s sacked].”
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Ten Hag has not got everything right at Man Utd but it was widely accepted that he handled the Ronaldo situation admirably and Jamie Carragher thinks the Portugal international “had to be dealt with”.
“I think they are the things I admire him [Ten Hag] on,” Carragher said on The Overlap.
“I don’t think he has got them wrong at all. [Cristiano] Ronaldo had to be dealt with, and he dealt with it head-on.”
Regarding Tuchel, ex-Man Utd star Peter Schmeichel has recommended the departing Bayern boss to his former club.
“I like Thomas Tuchel. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing him a couple of times and his football knowledge is fantastic,” Schmeichel told beIN Sports.
“He’s been a little bit unlucky with being at two big football clubs at the wrong time of their history, at times where things weren’t working on every level. It’s not that he didn’t do well Chelsea, for instance. I mean, he won the Champions League, didn’t he?!
“I just like him, there’s something about him. He projects an authority. Never compare people but he’s got the same kind of thing that [Jurgen] Klopp has. You know he’s the boss and you know what he’s doing.”
