What Neville, Keane and Rooney have said on Erik ten Hag’s Man United future

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag remains uncertain about his future at the club 12 days on from the Reds’ last match of the season.

Ten Hag looked almost certain to be sacked in the build-up to the FA Cup final with several reports surfacing surrounding his future. MEN Sport reported that no decision had yet been made and the full focus was on the game against Manchester City which United won 2-1.

In the days which have since followed the victory, United have remained coy on the future of their boss and a decision was expected this week. However, this has not yet been forthcoming and there is a risk the final call could roll into next week.

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With Ten Hag’s future the talk of United, MEN Sport has decided to look back at what three former captains of the club – Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney – believe is the right call this summer on the Dutchman’s future.

Gary Neville

Reflecting on The Overlap’s newsletter, Neville said: “I couldn’t face going to Wembley on Saturday. That’s how little confidence I had in United’s ability to stop City doing the double again.

“And yet it turned out to be a beautiful day. And a great performance after a horrible season that might just change everything for Erik ten Hag…

“There’s no doubt Ten Hag’s FA Cup win has put Manchester United in an awkward position. This has been an unacceptably poor Premier League season for the club.

“Of course, Ten Hag will argue that he hasn’t had anything like a consistent enough squad to pick from, especially his back four. But even so, the lack of control in many games has been alarming.

“And yet he has two cups in two years. He has proven he can win trophies with this side. He has matched Jose Mourinho as the most successful United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson.

“I think he’s earned the right to go on. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement but the first consideration when removing a manager is you have the right and better replacement.

“Simply there is no outstanding candidate to replace him that would make an immediate and massive upgrade. If you have the opportunity to appoint someone like Jurgen Klopp, as Liverpool did in 2015, or Pep Guardiola, as City did in 2016, then it makes sense to change.

“But there’s no-one out here who will suddenly take this United squad on to another level. They might do somewhat better but even with Guardiola in charge, this United team wouldn’t win the Premier League.”

Roy Keane

After United’s final home game of the season, Keane told Sky Sports: “I’d like to think so, but there have been genuine problems at the club. The injuries in the back four and he has been honest with that. But, with the more games you are losing and being eighth in the table, yeah, you end up losing that belief.

“I would never sit in the studio and hope for a manager to lose his job. I hope he is given more time and they can get to the summer, restructure and regroup.

“There’s huge problems at the club but I hope he’s given a chance to get things right because last year there was some positives. We have to be honest with that.”

Wayne Rooney

“I personally hope they do give them time,” Rooney concluded, “because I think there’s a lot of problems.

“Recruitment is massive, and it hasn’t been good enough throughout the year. I do think it takes time to do it right.

“But what we’ve seen before, I was part of [Man United’s team] in the FA Cup final, when we won in 2016 and Louis van Gaal lost the job so you never know.”