Gary Neville has explained why Erik ten Hagās Manchester United job has become more difficult as the summer has progressed ahead of their Premier League opener against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Neville has always been a very outspoken character, never afraid to voice his opinion on matters involving Manchester United.
Unitedās summer window has not quite gone to plan so far, with Ten Hagās key target Frenkie de Jong reluctant to join the club for a number of reasons.
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Speaking after Arsenalās 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace on Friday during the opening day of the Premier League season, Gary Neville has labeled securing a Champions League spot this season as an āoutstanding performance.ā
When quizzed on what would make a successful season for Erik ten Hag, Neville replied: āI think it would be to grab that fourth place.
āI think if he got in fourth place from where I sit here today, now, I would say thatās an outstanding performance ā I really would.ā
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Neville further expands on this, describing how Unitedās lack of transfer business compared to other clubs has hampered their seasonās targets.
āWith the business that they havenāt done, I would say actually that I wouldnāt expect him to get fourth place,ā he declared.
āI think to be fair that Chelsea have been doing more business, signed another player today [Friday], Arsenal have done good business, Tottenham have done good business, City and Liverpool have improved.ā
When predicting where the Red Devils will finish this season, the former Manchester United captain was resigned to saying United will finish the season poorly.
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āIf you said to me honestly with my head, Iād say probably sixth at this moment in time.
āIf you shifted them up to fifth or fourth Iād say thatās a good performance ā but if they get de jong in, if they get someone else in, then obviously that bar comes sort of higher.ā
He goes on to explain that despite this, Erik ten Hag is not under pressure this season.
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āThe reason he is not under pressure is becauseā¦ well the Ronaldo situation is distracting; you saw him in the press conference today having to answer questions about it.
āThe fact that Martial is injured and he's the only other centre forward and he was actually going to leave the club six months ago, the fact they haven't got De Jong in yet, the fact that basically (he) hasnāt been supported in the way the other managers have and getting the signings in early, all means that itās a more difficult job for Ten Hag than it already was.ā
Manchester United face Brighton during the opening weekend of the Premier League season on Sunday, with Erik ten Hag set to make his competitive debut at Old Trafford.
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Ten Hag has also hinted that new signings Christian Eriksen and Lisandro Martinez could make their debuts, as they are now fit enough to start the fixture should they be chosen to play.
Topics:Ā Manchester United, Gary Neville, Erik Ten Hag, Cristiano Ronaldo, Anthony Martial, Frenkie De Jong, Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen