Gary Neville has suggested that Manchester United may reassess Erik ten Hag’s position during the international break after drawing 0-0 with Aston Villa. The Red Devils managed to avoid a repeat of their previous two games, where they conceded three times each, by holding Villa to a goalless draw away from home.
Bruno Fernandes came closest to breaking the deadlock when his free-kick hit the bar.
Ahead of the match, co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe refrained from fully endorsing the manager, even though Ten Hag had secured a contract extension over the summer. Jamie Carragher criticised this decision to stick with the former Ajax boss, labelling it as one of the worst decisions made by the United hierarchy.
However, Neville hinted that the owners might continue to back the manager in the hope of weathering their current rough patch.
Neville told Sky Sports before the Villa game: “I think we all know that obviously clubs do reassess during international breaks, and I think what’s happened in the last week. Anyone who was in Old Trafford last week [for the defeat against Tottenham], I don’t think you even need to be in the stadium to recognise that it felt like a monumental day.”
When questioned about Ratcliffe’s comments made earlier in the week, he responded: “It didn’t surprise me. I think if you went to [Liveprool owners] FSG and John Henry was doing an interview over in America and said who would be sacking the [Liverpool] manager, I think he’d say I’d leave it to my football department on the ground.
“It will be Dan Ashworth, it will be Omar Berrada, supported by Jason Wilcox. They’ll make the decision or recommendation, and then it will be Joel Glazer, Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford who are on that sporting committee at the top of the club who will validate it.
“But one thing’s for certain, when you speak to people around the club, they don’t want to make that decision. They want to try and be different and get through this difficult time.
“It is their first time in this situation, and they’ve got a lot of evidence over the last 10 years of how to do it and how not to do it, and I suppose at this moment in time they’ll want to try and make their own decision based upon what they’re thinking.”
United’s return of eight points from seven games is their lowest at this stage of any Premier League season. The draw at Villa Park means they go into the international break sitting in the bottom half of the Premier League table, and Ten Hag was asked by Sky Sports about his conversations with the club’s higher-ups.
“We always speak, every week we speak,” he declared. “We are all on board together, on one page, we know what we are working through it’s a long-term process. We have come through two very tough away games. This is a team, we showed the belief and faith we have.”
