Ten Hag&aposs men have lost three of their opening five matches so far this season as Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion all took maximum points off them. The Dutchman performed well in his debut campaign in the Premier League, returning the Reds to the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup in the process.
Prior to the start of the season, there was optimism Ten Hag could push on and take United a step further. But, the slow start has led to worries of a repeat of failings from other managers.
While Neville believes it is too early to condemn Ten Hag, he is worried underlying issues could halt any progress. He said on his Sky Sports podcast: “In terms of his work on the pitch, I don&apost think Erik ten Hag will change, and the fact of the matter is there are many a manager, good managers, over the last ten or 12 years since Sir Alex Ferguson left that have found challenges at Manchester United.
“What I am hoping at the moment is this is just a difficult start to the season and it&aposs not a repeat of what we have seen previously, where it became challenging for [Jose] Mourinho, for [Louis] Van Gaal, for [David] Moyes, and obviously for [Ralf] Rangnick and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. So, I hope this is not the beginning of that.
“There is no Manchester United fan I know, that has got a brain, that is most angry with Erik ten Hag. What they want really is a change of ownership and they want stability and they want a group of players that are committed.
“I don&apost think the players aren&apost committed. I just wonder how good they are. That is my concern.
“The club has been pulled from pillar to post over this last ten or 11 years from a sporting point of view because of their manager&aposs wishes on recruitment. And it&aposs happened again.
“They are Erik ten Hag&aposs players, those are the ones he wanted, Jose brought in the lads that he wanted, like [Romelu] Lukaku and [Paul] Pogba and those lads, and Van Gaal went for a very technical type of player, loads of left-footed centre backs and left-backs and stuff like that.
“They have all brought in who they wanted to bring in. I thought this time there would be a stronger sporting project behind the scenes that would enable Manchester United to bring in a group of players.
“But Manchester United have again allowed the manager to influence the signings and that is my concern with the club. They have got no strength at the very top.”
One of the stand-out kits of the new season, the base colour of the adidas shirt is green with white stripes and maroon lines ensuring United will boast one of the most eye-catching shirts in the game for the 2023/2024 campaign.
