Gary Neville names three massive player calls Ten Hag got spot on, as Roy Keane jokes why Man Utd boss should resign
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag
Roy Keane jokingly urged Erik ten Hag to resign after a particular moment in the League Cup final, while Gary Neville named three major player decisions the Man Utd boss has got spot on.
The Red Devils ended their trophy drought on Sunday after sinking Newcastle 2-0 in the League Cup final at Wembley.
Manchester United’s last major trophy prior to Sunday came in 2017 when Jose Mourinho guided the club to their first ever Europa League.
The League cup has ended the streak, though with United challenging for trophies on three further fronts, the wait for the next piece of silverware might not be as long.
In the aftermath of the victory at Wembley, two of United’s summer signings – Antony and Lisandro Martinez – donned their country’s flags and were seen dancing in celebration.
The pair both reunited with Ten Hag in Manchester after playing for the Dutchman at Ajax. The connection between the manager and those players in particular is clearly strong after Ten Hag showed no hesitation getting involved with the dancing.
Predictably, the fun and games weren’t to United legend Roy Keane’s liking, with the Sky Sports man jokingly saying to Ten Hag: “You should resign after that”.
The Dutchman replied: “Never. We have a history with that (from Ajax). I hope we can do it more often!”
Ten Hag’s three huge Man Utd calls all correct – Neville
Elsewhere, Gary Neville lauded Ten Hag for the transformative effect he’s had at Old Trafford.
The former right-back zeroed in on three specific calls Ten Hag made regarding a trio of extremely high profile players.
Firstly, ousting club icon Cristiano Ronaldo after the veteran Portuguese repeatedly undermined his manager with ill-discipline.
Ronaldo’s explosive interview with TalkTV in which he laid waste to many elements of the club including Ten Hag prompted the Dutchman to act.
Secondly, Rashford was notably dropped from the starting eleven to face Wolves back on December 31. That was despite Rashford being United’s form player at the time, but Ten Hag again bit the bullet after Rashford had turned up late.
Rashford then proceeded to score the winner off the bench late on and the way in which Rashford was punished yet quickly brought back into the fold was hailed by Paul Scholes.
Finally, Ten Hag showed he had the gravitas to make a big decision right out of the gate when axing club captain Harry Maguire in favour of a Varane-Martinez centre-back pairing.
“The big things, leaving Marcus Rashford out after doing so well for being late, the way in which he handled the Ronaldo situation and leaving out Harry Maguire, those are massive decisions and could have quite easily gone the wrong way,” said Neville (via the Mirror).
“But I think he has assumed control of the club again. You think of Guardiola and Klopp and know they are the most important people at the football club, but Ten Hag today and in the last few months has just taken control of Manchester United again.
“The fans love Casemiro and love Rashford, but when he lifted the trophy, they know who the most important person is.”
