Neville sends SACK warning to Ten Hag after Fulham win

Robin Bairner

• 19 Aug 2024 13:00 BST
• 2 min read

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been told by Gary Neville that there must be an improvement in the performances of the Red Devils this season and that the same old excuses will not be tolerated.

Ten Hag was rather surprisingly kept in charge of Man Utd following an extensive season review during the summer, despite the Red Devils finishing eighth in the Premier League.

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The former Ajax boss claimed that bad luck with injuries were one of the chief reasons behind the club’s problems, yet Neville has indicated that he is sceptical of this excuse.

The pundit was unconvinced by Friday’s 1-0 victory over Fulham, which came courtesy of a goal from Joshua Zirkzee, while he was also concerned with the sight of Harry Maguire limping out of the match with an injury.

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Same old story for Neville

On the Gary Neville podcast, he said: “On reflection, it is the same story. Winning was very important, they are still finding that right balance in the team, they have new players - they changed the centre-back partnership again in the game, which is just a little bit of a worry - Erik ten Hag said it was just precautionary with Harry Maguire and it was not an injury, but it is something they just have to monitor and to try and keep the players fit.

“I do not think we can be sat here in October and Ten Hag is talking about excuses and injuries, as that cannot happen again this year. If you have injuries in one season that can be deemed unlucky, but if you have injuries in a second season, that is not unlucky. It is what you are, it is your medical staff, preparation, sports scientists, all those things come into question when you get repetitive injuries.”

United are already without leading striker Rasmus Hojlund for an estimated six weeks because of an injury issue, which has led to them being linked with a move for Brentford forward Ivan Toney in the closing stages of the transfer window – a deal that does not appear to be on the cards as things stand.