‘A combination of Sir Alex, Pep and Klopp couldn’t succeed at Man United’

Erik ten Hag has been told even a mix of Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp couldn’t succeed at Manchester United.

United were humiliated at the Community Stadium, going four goals down before half-time, with the Bees achieving a feat only Liverpool and Tottenham have also done in the Premier League.

Newly appointed Ten Hag has also become the first coach of the Red Devils to lose his opening two matches in over 100 years, with United on a seven-game league losing streak away from home, their longest since 1936.

Singling-out what the issue is at United has been an impossible task since Sir Alex Ferguson left in 2013, and many, such as club legend Gary Neville, have blamed the Glazer ownership.

However, in the short-term there’s a multitude of issues that led to the latest ‘new low’ in London, with the players also at fault and even called out by Ten Hag post-match.

“I think this team is good enough to beat Brighton and to beat Brentford but we didn’t do [it], so we have to question ourselves,” the Dutchman said.

“Brentford were more hungry. We conceded goals from individual mistakes. You can’t have a tactical plan but then put it in the bin.

“It is always a surprise when you start a game like this. After 35 minutes we conceded four goals. This is not possible. The team has to take the responsibility, I feel really sorry for the fans who did everything to support us, we let them down.

“They are good players, and have to take responsibility on the pitch, as a team and as individuals, and that’s what we didn’t do. I asked them to play with belief and take responsibility for their performance, and that’s what they didn’t do.

“It’s only when we stick together and work hard that we will overcome that. You have to take belief on to the pitch for yourself and the team.

“Don’t get me wrong, the manager is responsible as well, he has the main responsibility, and I take that. And I will work on that. I have to give them belief, but they have to give it by themselves.”

talkSPORT host Mark Goldbrigde discussed a number of issues affecting the side he loves, including the owners, Ten Hag’s tactics, and the decision to ignore Ralf Rangnick’s advice.

The players’ effort, identified by Ten Hag, struck a chord, though, and Goldbridge believes one of them saw this coming.

“Over the last 12 months we’ve been beaten comprehensively seven times,” he explained. “I’m talking 4-0 against Brighton, 4-0 against Brentford today, Leicester, Watford, Liverpool twice, Man City.

“It’s the same players. [Harry] Maguire as captain Bruno [Fernandes] starting, Luke Shaw, [Marcus] Rashford, [Scott] McTominay gets dropped and then brought back on.

“It has been an absolutely disgusting summer transfer window. Richard Arnold is sat there, we saw him on the TV, he is the CEO of this football club. John Murtough, brought Ralf Rangnick in to rebuild this football club, sacked him, and then took the job on himself to rebuild the club, and it’s been a total and utter mistake.

“This Manchester United fansbase needs to unify, forget all the little ‘you don’t like this player I don’t like that player’ this fanbase needs to jump on the opportunity to remove the Glazers, then we can remove the CEO the director of football, most of the coaches, most of the board, and most of the players and cleanse this football club from top to bottom.

“Ronaldo knows their level. He knows the level at Real Madrid, Juventus, Portugal, he knows what a good coach is, he also knows what the limitations of a good coach are. 

“I think Ronaldo saw this coming, he knew that no matter how good Ten Hag is he knew this squad, he knew the mentality and he knew this was coming.

“That’s why in June when he saw nobody being sold and nobody being bought he thought ‘this manager could be a combination of Sir Alex, Pep, Klopp the lot, he is not going to succeed with these players’, and you can’t blame him for wanting to leave.”