- Erik ten Hag has reportedly called his players in for one-to-one sessions
- The Dutchman is desperate to fix dressing room morale after their poor start
- Is Ten Hag out of his depth at Man United? Listen here to It’s All Kicking Off!
Erik ten Hag has reportedly arranged to have one-to-one showdown talks with his under-performing Manchester United players in a bid to turn their dismal start to the season around.
United’s dismal season plunged to new depths on Wednesday night after they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup following a 3-0 loss to Newcastle.
The defeat came three days after United were on the receiving end of the same score in the Manchester derby and means Ten Hag has now overseen the club’s worst start to a season in six decades.
And with doubt being cast over Ten Hag’s future at the club, the under-pressure Dutchman is looking to resolve any issues lingering within his own squad.
According to The Sun, Ten Hag is desperate to know if there are any problems with him, his staff or any other members of the squad in a bid to fix the ongoing crisis at the club.
The report claims that these showdown talks will be held on Friday and Saturday, less than 48 hours after their defence of the Carabao Cup went up in smoke.
Following the defeat by Newcastle, Ten Hag vowed to turn the run of poor form around, insisting that he is a ‘fighter’.
Scott McTominay backed his manager to do so on Friday, saying: ‘‘There’s more that goes into it when you’re not playing well. It’s not quite happening at the moment, but I’m 100 per cent sure that the manager can put that into practice and it can come off.
‘Everyone knows that we’re not in our best period at the minute. We have to stick together, that’s the most important thing. We have another game coming up and potentially in a week’s time the picture could be a little bit different – win in the Champions League and wins in the league.
‘Obviously the fans will hear the generic response of “we’ve got to stick together”, but it’s true. Everyone wants this football club to succeed and we have to pull together and try to be as good with each other as possible in the dressing-room to get those results going our way.
‘I feel like we’ve got more than enough talent in the changing room to do that. But obviously something isn’t quite clicking. That’s up to the manager and the players to fix that, and I’m 100 per cent confident that we will.’
Dressing room morale at United has been low in recent weeks, with Mail Sport reporting earlier this week that United players fear Ten Hag’s abrupt approach is affecting squad harmony.
Ten Hag has built a no-nonsense reputation since arriving at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022 – and has had issues with a number of players since his appointment, most recently Jadon Sancho.
The hardline Dutchman has been applauded for the way he has ruthlessly dealt with a number of issues involving high profile members of his squad over the past 18 months.
However, Mail Sport has learned that figures within the United squad believe Ten Hag’s handling of certain individuals has had a negative impact on team togetherness.
Ten Hag’s ongoing public dispute with winger Sancho has increased the scrutiny on United’s disappointing campaign thus far.
Sancho is exiled from United’s squad after publicly disagreeing with his manager’s public statements that he was left out of the squad to face Arsenal in September because of a lack of effort in training.
His refusal to apologise to Ten Hag has seen Sancho completely cut off from the first-team squad to the point where he cannot even eat with the senior squad.
It is understood that United planned to make public any private apology from Sancho, which would have been viewed as a public victory for Ten Hag.
Sancho, though, remains close with a number of players in the United squad despite his banishment. Indeed defender Aaron Wan-Bissaka was photographed with the attacker in New York in September.
Ten Hag was similarly forthright in explaining why Raphael Varane was left out of the side that lost 3-0 to Manchester City on Sunday, claiming his decision to play Jonny Evans ahead of the force Real Madrid centre-back was ‘tactical’.
Last year, Ten Hag’s treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo split opinion as the Portugal legend eventually left the club for Saudi Arabia.
Olivia Martin is a dedicated sports journalist based in the UK. With a passion for various athletic disciplines, she covers everything from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis.
