Man Utd stars are ‘discontented’ and blame Ten Hag for ‘poor start’ to season after sack claims

Manchester United players are blaming Erik ten Hag for their poor start to the new season after being overworked in pre-season, according to reports.

Their 3-2 loss to Galatasaray in the Champions League at the beginning of October marked the Red Devils’ worst start to a season since 1986.

Since then Man Utd have become the most in-form team in the Premier League over the last five matches with four wins, despite their poor performances.

However, in the same period they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Newcastle in an embarrassing 3-0 defeat, lost the Manchester derby 3-0 in the Premier League and lost 4-3 to Copenhagen in the Champions League.

That defeat to Copenhagen leaves their chances of qualifying for the last-16 of the Champions League hanging by a thread and defeat to Galatasaray next week would seal their fate.

Ten Hag has a number of off-field situations to deal with and he’s also had to cope with a large number of injuries, the Man Utd manager having to cope without up to 16 players.

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And The Guardian claims that a number of Man Utd players ‘believe the team’s poor start is down to Erik ten Hag overworking the squad in pre-season’ and the stars have ‘complained of beginning the campaign feeling as tired as when they finished the previous one’.

The report in The Guardian added:

‘Those discontented include several senior squad members, the Guardian has been told. It is understood none have explicitly aired their concerns to the manager, who believes his players are fully committed and comprehend the need for sacrifice if United are to be consistently successful.

‘During pre-season the manager is thought to have upped the intensity of training in an attempt to make United title contenders. Preparation included eight friendlies: four in Norway, Scotland, England and Ireland and the others played during a 12-day trip to the US that ranged across three time zones, taking place in New Jersey, San Diego, Houston and Las Vegas. This came after many of the squad had participated in the Qatar World Cup in mid-season.’

Speaking after they lost to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup earlier this month, Ten Hag – who has been coping with speculation he could be sacked – vowed that his Man Utd team would play better once they got some of their injured players back.

Ten Hag said: “They can play better, everyone saw that last season, and I have to do everything to make them play better. This is my responsibility.

“Of course, when all the injured players return, I will have not only a good but also a full squad – we will definitely play better, and in this case, we won’t have to think about the next transfer window.”