Nicky Butt urges Man United to do one thing which fans may disagree with

Nicky Butt is interviewed after presenting Anthony Elanga of Manchester United with his Denzil Haroun Young Player of the Year Award at Littleton Road on 18 September 2020. Photographer: Ash Donelon

Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has urged the club to keep faith with manager Erik ten Hag.

United have endured a difficult start to the season which has seen them lose two of their first three Premier League games, including a 3-0 loss to Liverpool at Old Trafford last weekend.

Ten Hag is under serious pressure following last season’s eighth placed finish, although United did finish the campaign on a positive note by winning the FA Cup.

Butt urges United to keep faith with Ten Hag

The Dutchman survived an end of season review, in which United actively spoke to other managers before deciding to stick with the former Ajax boss, with the club activating a one year extension in his current deal until 2026.

Despite the uncertainly surrounding Ten Hag’s position, former United star Butt has urged the club to stick with the 54-year-old.

Ten Hag is under huge pressure to changed United’s fortunes around this season.

“There’s no point sacking somebody if there’s nobody to come in,” he told Manchester Evening News.

“Clubs all over the world do it, I think it’s crazy.

“They sack a manager because it’s not going well and they don’t have any reasonable targets coming in, then they bring another wrong one in and it’s a knock-on effect.

“For me, I’d give him time to get it right. It’s just the start of the season, we’ve only played three or four games and you’ve got to stand by him.

“If they don’t do that, they just should have let go of him in the post-season.”

Any hope that things might be different this season have seemingly evaporated after the first few games and it appears there’s no sign of any positive changes from last season.

Ten Hag has got a huge task on his hands to try and get a tune out of these players, and more worryingly in his third season in charge United seem to be lacking an identity and style of play.