Man Utd told they should've sacked Erik ten Hag last week as preferred successor picked

Manchester United have been told Erik ten Hag should’ve been sacked immediately after last month’s embarrassing defeat at home to Liverpool.

Ten Hag’s sorry Red Devils slumped to yet another humiliating result against their fiercest rivals, with goals from Luis Diaz and Mohamed Salah inspiring Liverpool to a 3-0 win.

It added yet more pressure onto the shoulders of Ten Hag, who was already under fire having been beaten in stoppage time by Brighton & Hove Albion the week before.

It’s left the three-time European champions scratching around in the bottom half of the table after the first three games of the Premier League season, with work to do already if they wish to finish inside the top four positions.

But according to Express Sport readers, if United are to manage Champions League qualification, they’ll have to sack Ten Hag first.

That’s because a majority 59 per cent of those who voted in a recent poll believe Ten Hag should’ve been let go after the 3-0 home loss against Arne Slot’s Liverpool.

But, finding a general consensus on who should take over from the ex-Ajax chief was a little more difficult, with the verdict split.

Graham Potter, Thomas Frank and the recently appointed US national team manager, Mauricio Pochettino, all polled below 20 per cent, with Thomas Tuchel and Ruud van Nistelrooy dominating the vote.

Van Nistelrooy, who was brought into the fold at Old Trafford this summer and received a sizeable 36 per cent of the vote, has already been tipped to take over from Ten Hag in due course.

Former Arsenal ace Perry Groves told talkSPORT after the Liverpool loss: “He’s going to be the next manager, without a shadow of a doubt.”

Whereas Tuchel has also been a long-time candidate to take the United hot seat.

So much so, it was reported earlier this month that the ex-Chelsea boss had been close to an agreement with INEOS, before Ten Hag was handed a second chance to turn things around this season.

Pundit Marcel Reif told German outlet BILD: “I would have bet a lot that Tuchel would replace Ten Hag. I recently had another conversation with someone who is very close to that. It was pretty far along, almost in agreement.”

Ten Hag will be keen to alleviate some of the pressure on him with a comfortable victory on the south coast against Southampton in the early kick-off this weekend.