Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville laid into his old side for “an absolutely disgusting performance” after a 3-0 defeat by Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Brennan Johnson had fired Spurs into an early lead after only three minutes, before United captain Bruno Fernandes was shown a straight red card just ahead of half-time after a sliding challenge on James Maddison.
Spurs doubled their lead soon after the restart through Dejan Kulusevski, before Dominic Solanke ended any hopes of a United comeback when he scored a third with 13 minutes left.
Neville said on Sky Sports: “It was an absolutely disgusting performance in that first half in effort, quality, everything you would want in a football team.
“There will be a lot of questions to answer for that group (of players) and the manager in the next week.
“I’ve been here at Man United enough over the past 10 to 12 years to know that a game and a result like this needs reversing rather quickly.
“The snowball starts to roll down that hill and it gathers apace. Erik ten Hag has got to stop it at source right now because this is a shocking day, a sobering day.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 29, 2024
“I said just before the game that there can be no excuses. A mountain of cash has been spent and invested. The first half was absolutely woeful, as bad as it gets.”
“The pressure is going to get ramped up this week – it is going to be brutal. It has been a bad day for Ten Hag, really bad.
“It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag – and that is saying something. It is really bad.”
Neville, who was part of Sir Alex Ferguson’s successful side, feels the squad needs to take collective responsibility.
“I’d be suggesting the players probably go and have a meeting themselves tomorrow morning without the manager,” Neville said.
“They’ve got to decide first what they want to do and Erik ten Hag has got a lot of friends in that dressing room that have worked with him previously at other clubs.
“They need to get a grip of that dressing room very quickly because it didn’t look that great out there in that first half today.”
Former Manchester United full-back Ashley Young – who won five trophies at Old Trafford, including the Premier League in 2013 – felt his old team “didn’t give anything”.
Young said on Sky Sports: “There was no effort, no work-rate. No-one was running. There were no leaders out there.
“Everything seemed disjointed. It seemed like there were individuals all over the pitch. No-one wanted to take the ball or to create anything.
“It was bad from start to finish for Man United. Tottenham were so comfortable. Man United did nothing.”
Former Spurs midfielder Jamie Redknapp felt United had “no identity”.
Redknapp said on Sky Sports: “It gets to a point where you feel for the manager. He looks completely out of his depth and is struggling to motivate.
“It was so easy for Tottenham, they were so comfortable, so calm. Man Utd are going backwards, he can’t complain any more. They have spent over £600m and have his defenders in.
“They are rock bottom and I don’t see where they can go from here.
“It is embarrassing because a club of this stature should not be producing performances like that. You can’t get outworked and that was the most damning thing for me.”
Redknapp feels Ten Hag’s position has become untenable.
“I’m seeing performances at the moment that are the kinds that get manager sacked,” he said.
“I just don’t see how he can keep his job with these performances. I don’t see how he can turn it around.
“I think he’s had enough time. I know they’ve won two trophies, but I don’t see how he’s the man to take it forward – but I also don’t see who is because it’s such a difficult job right now.”
