David Beckham has surprisingly spoken out in support of Erik ten Hag, even though the Dutchman has taken charge of another hugely underwhelming season at Manchester United.
During Ten Hag’s first campaign at Old Trafford, Man Utd won the League Cup, reached the FA Cup final and finished third in the Premier League.
The Red Devils have once again reached the FA Cup final, but that is their only achievement this term.
Ten Hag’s side have been knocked out of the Champions League and League Cup early on, while some disappointing results have seen them fall to eighth in the Premier League table.
Man Utd are even below Chelsea, a club where there has seemingly been constant drama and controversy this season.
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Man Utd’s players are starting to come to terms with the fact that Ten Hag is highly likely to be replaced in the summer, with Gareth Southgate and Thomas Tuchel both under consideration.
Man Utd have also been urged to consider a blockbuster reunion with Jose Mourinho, though that move would be a big shock.
Amid all the managerial speculation, ex-Man Utd and England star Beckham has been quizzed on the source of his former club’s problems.
But rather than blaming Ten Hag, like a lot of Man Utd pundits have been doing, the 49-year-old icon thinks it is the players who are not showing enough motivation.
“I think that’s the whole point of being a Manchester United player and playing in these big games, you should be motivated.
“When you’re a professional footballer and you’re doing the job that you love and you’re at the club that you love, when you’re playing in any game whether it’s a regular season game or whether it’s an FA Cup final against your rivals, then that should be enough motivation.
“If it’s not, then you’re in the wrong team and you’re playing the wrong sport so I think at the end of the day, we [Beckham’s former Man Utd team] went into every game whether it was a youth cup game, a friendly game, off-season or the European Cup final, with the same mentality and the same drive.
“That’s what you’d hope at any team and any player for Manchester United, go into an FA Cup final against Manchester City with enough motivation that a manager shouldn’t have to say much.”
Beckham continued: “We all know that Erik’s a very qualified manager and a good manager and he has the right motives.
“But I think we were lucky in our day that we had Sir Alex Ferguson, we were lucky that we had Eric Harrison and Jim Ryan and Nobby Stiles and all of these great managers and motivators.”
It has been reported that the significant cost of sacking Ten Hag – over £10million – could save the 54-year-old his job. However, Old Trafford chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe must decide whether Ten Hag is taking Man Utd in the right direction, and whether that £10m sack payment could be worth it to save the long-term future of the club.
