Gary Neville says Erik ten Hag ‘will be judged’ by INEOS in upcoming months and when injured players return to the fold

Gary Neville believes the forthcoming weeks/months will be crucial to Erik ten Hag’s tenure at Manchester United.

The Premier League are in the process of ratifying Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s 25 per cent stake in the Red Devils, which is set to kickstart a new era at Old Trafford with a partial owner who wants to do the groundwork needed to put United back on their pedestal.

Changes are expected to be made when Ratcliffe takes the reins of footballing matters and given United’s woeful start to the campaign, all eyes will be on Ten Hag for the remainder of the season to see if he can turn the situation around; the side currently sit eight points away from the Champions League places but have played one more game than three of the clubs occupying the top four.

United’s form, which has seen them lose 14 games thus far, has largely been put down to the debilitating injury crisis happening at Carrington. The starting 11 – especially the backline – has been frequently rotated to accommodate absent players each week but now that they’re gradually returning to the fold, the pressure is on for results to improve significantly.

Neville on United’s second half of the term

Speaking on the Sky Sports panel following Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, Neville was asked whether United can oversee a ‘positive end to the season’ when the likes of Luke Shaw, Harry Maguire and Mason Mount are fully fit.

“I think it has to be,” Neville admitted. “I think that those players coming back is when Erik ten Hag will be judged in this last three months of the season because there’s no doubt there that he loses quite a lot of his experience and his leaders in the team.

“So yeah, get those back in the next week or two. They’ve got a bit of a break now so those players should be back. And then I think February through until May is a bit of an audition really, in the sense that Jim Ratcliffe and Dave Brailsford, they’re going to be there week in, week out watching what goes on because they’re going to take over the running of the football club – on the football side – imminently, and they’re going to want to make some sort of big decisions on and off the pitch.”

With the players coming back from injury can Manchester United turn things around in this second half of the season? 🔴 pic.twitter.com/690KqhxkcQ

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 14, 2024

Footage courtesy of Sky Sports.