Erik ten Hag facing Man Utd D-Day as club legend Paul Scholes claims ‘control freak’ coach didn’t want £36.5m transfer
PAUL SCHOLES has questioned Manchester United’s summer transfer business.
The Red Devils have endured a nightmare start to the season under Erik ten Hag.
Last Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Tottenham has put Ten Hag under increasing pressure.
United return to action tonight in the Europa League, as they face Porto away from home.
They will then take on Aston Villa on Sunday off the back of Unai Emery‘s side’s huge 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
While Ten Hag has remained defiant over his future, reports claim that two defeats prior to the international break could see the 54-year-old lose his job.
Discussing his former side, Scholes questioned the wisdom of bringing in Joshua Zirkzee over the summer.
Zirkzee, 23, arrived in a £36.5million deal having scored 12 goals for Bologna last season.
He netted on his United debut, but is scoreless in seven appearances since.
Scholes, 49, has questioned whether his former goal-machine team-mate Ruud van Nistelrooy, who is now part of Ten Hag’s staff, would have chosen to bring Zirkzee in.
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Speaking on SuperSport, he said: “Coaches are control freaks, they want to do everything. If you were Ruud watching that, he is maybe thinking, ‘I will take a back seat, I don’t want to get involved in that’.
“He also has to be involved in the recruitment side of it, signing a centre forward or two centre forwards. ‘Ruud, who do you think?’
“I am not sure he would have picked Zirkzee. I am not sure he would have picked (Rasmus) Hojlund.
“Look, there is probably not a plethora of centre forwards out there but you would go consult him, wouldn’t you?”
Scholes also recently questioned whether £38.5m summer signing Matthijs de Ligt, who worked with Ten Hag at Ajax, is really much of an upgrade over Harry Maguire.
Appearing on the latest Overlap Fan Debate, Scholes said of the United boss: “He couldn’t wait to get De Ligt straight in ahead of Maguire, he was just waiting for the opportunity.”
He then added: “And look, in all honestly, I’m not sure it is that much of an upgrade.
“He might be slightly better but he is not a massive improvement where you think, ‘Wow.'”
Despite the speculation surrounding his future at Old Trafford, Ten Hag has bullishly defended his position.
Ahead of tonight’s game in Portugal, he told Sky Sports of his future: “I’m not thinking about it, I’m not anxious.
“We created a togetherness in the summer with the ownership and the leadership.
“We made this agreement, and we were all behind it. We know the strategy [is to bring in] young players in a transition period.
“They also know in May in all my last six seasons there were always trophies and that is what we are aiming for.”
Ten Hag's five worst defeats
ERIK TEN HAG has suffered some heavy defeats during his tenure as Manchester United manager.
5. Copenhagen 4-3 Man Utd, November 2023
The damaging defeat saw the Red Devils dumped out of the Champions League.
4. Man Utd 0-3 Bournemouth, December 2023
It was the first time the Cherries had ever won at Old Trafford with the players being booed off.
3. Brentford 4-0 Man Utd, August 2022
Perhaps a sign of things to come, in Ten Hag’s second Premier League game, his side was dismantled by the Bees.
2. Crystal Palace 4-0 Man Utd, May 2024
The heavy defeat to the Eagles saw the Dutchman edge ever closer to the sack.
1. Liverpool 7-0 Man Utd, March 2023
Man Utd were embarrassed at the hands of their bitter rivals as they crumbled at Anfield as it was the club’s worst defeat in 92 years.