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Man Utd squad turning on Erik ten Hag over his treatment of two players

Published

11 months ago

November 3, 2023

Gerald

Man Utd squad turning on Erik Ten Hag over his treatment of two players with dressing room divided

Manchester United players are turning on Erik ten Hag over his treatment of Jadon Sancho and Harry Maguire with pressure growing on the Dutchman at Old Trafford.

Following heavy back-to-back defeats at home to Manchester City and Newcastle United, doubts over ten Hag’s long-term future have emerged having lost eight of their first 15 games of the season.

Ten Hag has not been afraid to take a hard-line approach with his players since arriving in Manchester as shown through his handling of Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure last year, also dropping Marcus Rashford to the bench for arriving late to a team meeting.

But his handling of the situations surrounding Sancho and Maguire have troubled members of the squad who have privately questioned his methods, according to the Telegraph.

Sancho was dropped from the squad for the defeat to Arsenal in early September with ten Hag revealing his omission was down to a perceived lack of effort in training.

Sancho publicly denied his manager’s claims, insisting he had been made a ‘scapegoat’.

The former Borussia Dortmund star has been exiled from the squad ever since having refused to apologise with his future at the club now looking bleak.

Maguire meanwhile lost his place in the starting XI last season and was stripped of the captaincy in the summer.

While members of the squad have not been happy with the manner in which ten Hag handled those situations, the manager is still backed by other sections of the dressing room who remain convinced his stern approach is required to lift United from their malaise.

Following Wednesday’s defeat to Newcastle, United head to Fulham on Saturday afternoon before a must-win game away to Copenhagen in the Champions League next week.

Ten Hag has called for unity in the squad with his future likely to rest on a pivotal week.

‘It’s the only way we can do this. Shoulder by shoulder. Then we will come through this,’ Ten Hag said.

‘You have to be disciplined and do it with togetherness, everyone takes responsibility and be accountable. Co-operate – that is the key word.’