Man Utd chiefs give public backing to Erik ten Hag: ‘Do we still believe in him? Absolutely’

CEO Omar Berrada insist club will stick by under-pressure manager even if results worsen after humiliating defeat by Liverpool

Erik ten Hag has been given the full public backing of Manchester United’s new hierarchy after the club’s dismal start to the season thrust the manager’s future back in the spotlight.
United crashed to a second defeat in their opening three Premier League matches with Sunday’s 3-0 capitulation at home to Liverpool leaving the club’s co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe with his head in his hands in the Old Trafford directors’ box.
A tetchy Ten Hag reacted angrily to questions about his coaching in the wake of the Liverpool debacle but Old Trafford’s new power-brokers have told the Dutchman he has their full support.
Speaking publicly for the first time about Ten Hag, United chief executive Omar Berrada said: “Erik has our full backing and we have worked very closely together in this transfer window.
“We’re going to continue working very closely with him to help him get the best results of the team.”
Berrada and United’s new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, were speaking to reporters in the hours before the Liverpool match and there was no change in their position on Monday. Ten Hag had substituted Casemiro at half-time against Liverpool after the Brazil midfielder’s errors contributed to Luis Díaz scoring twice before Mohamed Salah added a third in the second period.
Pressed on whether they would still believe in Ten Hag even if United went on a bad run of results, Berrada added: “Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we’re fully backing him.”
Bookmakers’ odds on Ten Hag becoming the first Premier League manager to be sacked this season shortened after the Liverpool defeat, which followed a 2-1 loss at Brighton, with many now listing him as the favourite to be the first to lose his job.
Ratcliffe, United’s co-owner, made his emotions clear in the Old Trafford directors’ box during the Liverpool game and at one point had his head in his hands in despair at what was unfolding.
Jamie Carragher, the former Liverpool defender, believes it is only a matter of time before Ten Hag is sacked and Roy Keane and Gary Neville admitted the pressure was already building on the manager and that results would have to improve quickly.
United spoke to half a dozen other managers, including Thomas Tuchel and Roberto De Zerbi, before opting to trigger a one-year extension in Ten Hag’s contract to 2026 following a two-and-a-half week internal review.
The news was announced on July 4, three days after Ashworth started and more than a week before Berrada formally commenced his role.
Berrada said the decision was taken “prior to both of our arrivals” but stressed their happiness with it. Ashworth said he had no say in the decision to keep Ten Hag but was enjoying working with the manager.
“I didn’t start until July 1 so [I had] none whatsoever,” Ashworth said of his involvement in Ten Hag’s contract extension. “All I can do is reiterate what Omar says, I’ve really enjoyed working with Erik for the last eight weeks.
“I see my job as to support him in every way I possibly can, whether that’s operationally, with recruitment, whether that’s with medical, psychology, training ground flow.
“It’s just to take as much of that off him to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United.”
Ashworth said he had experience of walking into a club with a manager already in situ and that it was not an unusual situation to be faced with as a sporting director.
“It happened at Newcastle with Eddie Howe, it happened at West Brom – Tony Mowbray was in place,” he said. “Very rarely do you go into a job as a sporting director and there’s no manager in place.”
Berrada refused to put a timescale on how long he expects it to take for United to get back to the point where they are consistently challenging for the biggest trophies.
But the United chief executive – who was recruited from champions Manchester City by Ratcliffe – is certain they will fulfil their ambitions to get the club back on top.
“I’m very excited and very optimistic at what we have in front of us,” he said. “I think we’re starting to put the right pieces in place and I’m absolutely convinced that we’re going to be successful.”
Carragher, who claimed in May that United were one of the most poorly coached sides in the Premier League, believes Ten Hag only kept his job this summer by default and does not expect him to see out the season.
“Ten Hag said ‘we’ll see where we are at the end of the season’ but I’d be surprised if he’s still in charge then,” the former England centre-half said on Sky Sports.
“It looks a mess. The ownership didn’t want to keep him. They were scurrying around Europe seeing if they could find someone better but they didn’t have the nerve to make the change. It’s only delaying the inevitable.”
Neville believes there will have to be a marked improvement – and fast. “Erik ten Hag is going to have to get the club into a position challenging for the Champions League [positions] towards Christmas or he is going to be in trouble,” the former United defender said. “He knows that. He can’t be eighth at the end of November and going into December.
“Every manager who comes to this club has struggled. There’s a feeling today of: ‘Are we going to go through the same thing again?’ But I think it’s time for a bit of calm.”
Another former United captain, Roy Keane, said he was “worried” for Ten Hag’s future. “You can try and dress it up a little bit but United were shocking, really shocking,” Keane said. “Every time Liverpool went forward, they looked like they were going to score.
“You’d be worried for the manager. I would never stand here and say ‘I expect a manager to lose his job’. But the pressure must be building.”
Jason Burt