Erik ten Hag sack talk at Man Utd prompting player ‘fragility’ fears as iconic striker claims axe could fall

Erik ten Hag is reportedly becoming increasingly concerned about his players’ mental state and inabilities to cope with the pressures of playing for Manchester United with their alarming start to the season leading to a rise in talk that the Dutchman could be sacked.

Ten Hag’s Man Utd are currently in the midst of their worst start to a season since 1989 – some 34 years – having lost a hugely worrying six times in their opening 10 matches in all competitions. And with the club conjuring up a string of unwanted records over just how bad they have been, claims than Ten Hag’s job will soon come under serious scrutiny are starting to gather pace.

United, however, remain fully behind the Ten Hag regime and have no plans to consider their manager’s future any time soon. Indeed, reports on Wednesday evening claim that chief executive Richard Arnold is adamant that the Dutchman remains safe for the forseeable future and is backing the United boss to soon get their season back on course.

Furthermore, Ten Hag also came out fighting for his future with a strongly-worded message in the wake of Tuesday’s extremely-disappointing 3-2 Champions League defeat to Galatasaray – the first time in the Turkish side’s 118-year history they had won a game on English soil.

“…We come out together, we are fighting together, we are sticking together, behind each other, it’s me, the directors, the team, all together, we will fight and this is not us. We know we have to do better and in togetherness we will come out,” a determined Ten Hag stated.

However, a report in ESPN claims there is an underlying concern for Ten Hag around his players that threatens to deter that need for improvement.

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Ten Hag sack fears at Man Utd underpinned by player fragility

According to the report, Ten Hag is worried about how best to react to his players in the wake of six losses from 10 games so far. Clearly, results are not good enough and performances need to improve, but ESPN states that the mental fragility of his stars means he is afraid to go in too hard on them as he considers the best way to get a response.

With a crucial match against Brentford on the horizon – a game the Red Devils boss dares not lose – it’s reported he mental state of his players is preventing the Dutchman going in as hard on his players as he would like.

And the report suggests that while Ten Hag wants to instill a winning mindset into his players, he is concerned over how to treat them. Furthermore, it claimed that he’s concerned about the body language his players are giving off to one another when things don’t go their way during games.

Since coming from 2-0 down to beat Nottingham Forest 3-2 on August 26, United have gone on to lose every game in which they have gone behind in, including a run of two successive home defeats to both Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.

A failure to beat Brentford on Saturday will see United slip into the bottom half of the table going into the latest international break. And with a fortnight’s wait to repair the damage, Ten Hag is worried about how his side could suffer in the event of falling further adrift of the top spots.

There is a danger that Ten Hag could simply be over-thinking things, but it’s without doubt that the Dutchman will be leaving no stone unturned in his efforts to garner a response from his players.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic claims Ten Hag job is in peril

Nonetheless, former United striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic insists Ten Hag does find his job in jeopardy, regardless of the board’s stance.

And the legendary Sweden striker, who played for United between 2016-18, scoring 29 times in 53 games, has even questioned Ten Hag’s credentials to turn around their poor current form.

“Coming from Ajax to United as he did is a big difference – I have been in both clubs. You have a different kind of discipline. Ajax is a talented club. They have the best talents in the club. They don’t have big stars,” Ibrahimovic told TalkTV.

“What is the experience of this coach? Young talents, he comes to United, it is a different mentality. The players there are supposed to be big stars. I don’t think you give the same treatment.

“How much time do you give a coach? It depends on the owners, what they want, but if you listen to the fans, you don’t have a lot of time because they want to win, and I understand them because they are used to winning and they want to still win.”

It all means that United go into Saturday afternoon’s match against Thomas Frank’s Bees in a serious pressure-cooker situation not daring to lose and knowing only a win will do to ease some of the pressure. How his players respond to successive defeats will ensure lots of focus will be put on Ten Hag with a defeat undoubtedly set to crank up the pressure, regardless of the United board’s stance or otherwise.

Frank’s side also recorded a 4-0 win over United at the Brentford Community Stadium last season.

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