Ten Hag remains best man for Reds

IF Erik ten Hag wants a reminder of how quickly things can unravel for Manchester United managers, he could ask Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, sacked 72 days after he had taken his team to the top of the Premier League.

- TYRONE MARSHALL

When United beat Newcastle 4-1 in September 2021, with the returning Cristiano Ronaldo scoring twice, to make it three wins and a draw from four games, there was some talk of a title challenge.

Instead, Solskjaer was shown the door within three months, losing seven of his next 13 games.

That's a not too dissimilar run of form to that which Ten Hag is overseeing at the start of this season, with six defeats in the first 10 games meaning the Dutchman is starting to feel the pressure that comes with the job.

Failure to beat Brentford at Old Trafford this weekend ahead of a two-week international break would be disastrous.

But Ten Hag is only under pressure in the sense that he has to find a way to turn things around.

There is no realistic possibility of him losing his job any time soon, even if he is now second favourite in the Premier League sack race, behind Sheffield United's Paul Heckingbottom.

United are more invested in the 53-year-old than perhaps any of the four other permanent managers that have come since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement.

A transfer spend of £400million across two summers is a sign of the faith they have in Ten Hag, but signing the players he so clearly demanded has hitched the club to manager in a way that means they will be starting again if they do go their separate ways.

Ten Hag is also the manager with the most power since Ferguson.

He was the change candidate in 2022, a disciplinarian who could raise the standards and culture at the club. United can't rip that up now unless things get really desperate.