Man Utd icon Andy Cole’s spooky warning comes back to haunt Erik ten Hag
Not even Andy Cole himself would have thought his premonition for Erik ten Hag’s second season in charge at Manchester United would have turned out as accurate as they’ve made it out to be. United fell to another dismal defeat in the Champions League on Wednesday to leave them bottom of their group with just two games remaining.
They haven’t fared much better in the top flight either with United scrapping for every one of their six Premier League wins so far and losing their other five matches. It’s a far cry from where United were at the end of last season as Ten Hag led the Red Devils to an impressive third-place finish as well as ending their six-year trophy drought.
That was despite an ugly Cristiano Ronaldo feud that ended with the forward not being properly replaced in the January market as well as the takeover saga rolling on for months. Things were looking up for United heading into the summer, but that good momentum has fallen off a cliff in the past few months.
Ten Hag is now battling to prove that he’s still the best person to lead United into the future.
Not many would have predicted United’s downfall judging on how they finished last season. But Cole was one of a few who was cautious in his expectations for Ten Hag in his second season and the former United striker has been proven right.
“For the manager to come in and do what he did in his first season is a big positive,” he said in July. “But it’s like when a player comes into the Premier League and has a fantastic season people then judge them by that the next year.
“It’s that second-season syndrome. And that could well be the case for the manager as well. A lot is going to be expected of him and people will be predicting the same kind of things. Will he be able to do that? We’ll have to wait and see.
Don’t miss…
Man Utd star Rasmus Hojlund backed after furious rant at Dalot vs Copenhagen[LATEST]
What Man Utd need to qualify and other Champions League permutations[LATEST]
Ruud Gullit sums up Man Utd downfall with damning assessment on Erik ten Hag[LATEST]
- Support fearless journalism
- Read The Daily Express online, advert free
- Get super-fast page loading
“But it could be a little bit tougher than last season, some of the teams that were terrible can’t be any worse. So Manchester United are going to be in a tough fight to finish in the top four. Champions League football is paramount.”
There’s still time for Ten Hag to turn things around with United not yet out of the Champions League completely. A win away to Galatasaray after the international break is a must now and then they will likely have to beat Bayern Munich, who have already secured top spot in the group.
Jumping up the league table will also be crucial to Ten Hag’s future at the club and anything other than a convincing win over Luton this weekend will be seen as a failure.
Source: Read Full Article
