Erik ten Hag's position as Manchester United is currently under-fire. United have been in poor form throughout the season, rare moments of positivity and brilliance. They are currently sixth in the Premier League standings, registering 44 points in 26 matches, consisting of 14 wins, two draws and 10 defeats. They are behind fifth-placed Tottenham (47 points) and Aston Villa (52), who are fourth.
Meanwhile, top-spot is occupied by Liverpool (60), who are followed by Manchester City (59) and Arsenal (58). Ten Hag has faced plenty of criticism from fans, former players and experts.
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Two-time Premier League champion Cesc Fabregas also joined the bandwagon and criticised Ten Hag for lacking a 'structure' and also rated Ole Gunnar Solskjaer higher than him.
Speaking to the Planet Premier League podcast, the Spaniard said, "I have to say as well that I don't know the numbers, but with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] there were some good big games. They used to have a structure, they had a plan. At least you saw a plan, which was to defend well and have great breaks and this is exactly what Manchester United don't have at the moment."
Pointing out United's 1-2 defeat against Fulham in their latest Premier League outing, Fabregas felt that they were destroyed during counter-attacks. "Looking carefully at the counters that Fulham did to them and the way they were done, it makes the alarm bells go for a very, very long period of time. It cannot happen that a top, top team gets done on the counter so many times in one half, or over 60 minutes. And this shows that they are lacking something. I don't know his game plan, I don't know if he has structure, I don't know what his message is. But, definitely, if these happen to my team, there would be a lot of alarm bells going on," he said.
{{/usCountry}}Pointing out United's 1-2 defeat against Fulham in their latest Premier League outing, Fabregas felt that they were destroyed during counter-attacks. "Looking carefully at the counters that Fulham did to them and the way they were done, it makes the alarm bells go for a very, very long period of time. It cannot happen that a top, top team gets done on the counter so many times in one half, or over 60 minutes. And this shows that they are lacking something. I don't know his game plan, I don't know if he has structure, I don't know what his message is. But, definitely, if these happen to my team, there would be a lot of alarm bells going on," he said.
{{/usCountry}}United are up against Manchester City in their upcoming Premier League fixture away from home, on Sunday. The spotlight will once again be on Ten Hag, as he will look to get a good result against United's arch-rivals.