Manchester City supporter Noel Gallagher has encouraged Manchester United to replace Erik ten Hag with a manager who could “re-shape the club properly”.
Ten Hag enjoyed a strong debut season in charge at Man Utd as he helped them win the Carabao Cup and finish third in the Premier League in 2022/23.
But the Dutchman is under increasing pressure amid United’s poor start to this season. They have four wins in five in the Premier League but they have crawled over the line in recent weeks as they have just done enough to pick up all three points.
A huge upturn in form is required for Ten Hag – who is among the favourites in the Premier League sack race – to remain at Man Utd beyond this season.
Several potential replacements have already been touted and Gallagher thinks Brentford’s Thomas Frank would be a wise appointment.
The Bees have performed brilliantly as they have stabilised in the Premier League following promotion from the Championship in 2021. They finished ninth in the table last term and they are currently sitting comfortably around mid-table.
Gallagher has explained why he thinks Frank would be the right man for Man Utd if they decide to get rid of Ten Hag.
“United always seems to be a bit fractured to me and their fanbase is quite influential and it all breeds United at best treading water,” Gallagher said on talkSPORT.
“United need to get some people to lower the expectations in the short term and then get somebody like Thomas Frank to re-shape that club properly from the bottom up, otherwise there will always be this ‘we need to buy [Paul] Pogba, we need to buy [Alexis] Sanchez’ just to appease the fans for a couple of weeks.
“United from the outside, the owners don’t love the club, they don’t like it, they don’t respect what the fans have to say and they need real football people in there, real serious football people.
“The people at the top are not serious, City’s people are serious. United need to get serious and they’re not going to do that with the Glazers, because they’re in it for what they can get out of it.”
Ex-Man Utd striker Louis Saha thinks Ten Hag has been “saved by good performances from certain players” in recent matches.
“He’s been saved by good performances from certain players, but not essentially Manchester United’s key players,” Saha told Betfred.
“He signed Mason Mount who’s been unimpressive, despite a decent cameo against Luton on Saturday, and he’s not done enough.
“Antony is another signing that’s sat on the bench and even when you look at Marcus Rashford too, the fact that their key players are lacking confidence isn’t going to encourage and help the club’s youngsters.
“When I was at Manchester United, the key players in the team would push me really hard when I was a bit down. I don’t see that happening in this current team, but it was something that we saw last season. It’s been strange so far this season.”