Man Utd board ‘make Erik ten Hag sack decision’ with Ratcliffe waiting in wings

Ten Hag insists Man Utd have plenty to play for after European exit

Manchester United have reportedly decided to hold fire on major managerial decisions until Sir Jim Ratcliffe purchases his 25-per-cent share in the club. The pressure on Red Devils boss Erik ten Hag ramped up another notch on Tuesday night when his side lost to Bayern Munich and crashed out of the Champions League.

United’s European campaign was so miserable that they failed to even drop into the Europa League, finishing bottom of Group A with just one win in six matches against Bayern, Galatasaray and Copenhagen.

Kingsley Coman came up with the winner at Old Trafford on Tuesday night as Bayern prevailed 1-0. A strong Premier League finish and a possible FA Cup run is now all that United have left to fight for over the second part of the campaign.

The league has hardly been a happy hunting ground for Ten Hag, with seven defeats in 16 matches and a negative goal difference leaving his side six points off the top four.

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Naturally, calls to see the Dutchman axed are growing. But The Independent claim that Ten Hag retains the backing of the United board, and in any case, game-changing decisions will be put on ice until Sir Jim’s buy-in is announced.

The petrochemicals billionaire is expected to become a minority owner with a degree of authority over sporting decisions at Old Trafford. With confirmation of his share purchase anticipated over the coming days, Ten Hag’s rocky run has come at the worst possible time.

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The Red Devils were smashed 3-0 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday, killing their momentum after a morale-boosting win over Chelsea. That, coupled with an abject performance at Newcastle earlier this month, is indicative of the inconsistency plaguing United in 2023/24.

Things aren’t about to get any easier for Ten Hag, with a daunting trip to Liverpool scheduled for Sunday afternoon. His side were on the wrong end of a 7-0 humiliation at Anfield last season – the kind of result which, if repeated, could leave him in an untenable situation.

“We have to take belief into the Premier League because we want to qualify again for the Champions League,” said Ten Hag after his side’s European exit was confirmed.

“We are losing players and players who are very decisive for our game, who can make the difference and in many games it was the case in this campaign that we did not always have the players available we wanted to play.”

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