Chris Sutton names 3 Manchester United players who have put Erik ten Hag in a helpless situation
Football pundit and columnist Chris Sutton believes the Manchester United trio of Mason Greenwood, Antony, and Jadon Sancho have put manager Erik ten Hag in a helpless situation.
The Red Devils' disappointing start to the season continued as they fell to a 3-1 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion at Old Trafford on Saturday, September 16. They have now lost three of their opening five league games and are currently 13th in the Premier League table with just six points.
In his column for the Daily Mail, Sutton wrote:
"United are a club with the highest expectations. Always have been. Always will be. To have only won two of their opening five Premier League games — and they were lucky they won those — is not good enough."
"I feel for Ten Hag in a way. He couldn’t help the Mason Greenwood situation. He couldn’t help the Antony situation. I’m not even sure he can help that Jadon Sancho seems like a prima donna, because Ten Hag was only being honest about the player."
Sutton added:
"When Mourinho was chucking everybody under the bus, he had lost the dressing room. It is not at that stage yet for Ten Hag. Bayern Munich on Wednesday will be tricky but United need to show a better version of themselves when they visit Burnley in the league on Saturday."
Manchester United have been plagued with injury issues with Mason Mount, Sofyan Amrabat, Raphael Varane, Luke Shaw, and others missing the game against Brighton.
Moreover, Ten Hag has lost two of his right-wingers in Mason Greenwood and Antony due to allegations of domestic abuse made against the players. The charges against Greenwood were dropped, but the Englishman was sent on loan to Getafe after an internal investigation concluded that the player couldn't represent the Red Devils. Antony has delayed his return to the club to deal with the ongoing legal cases against him.
Jadon Sancho, on the other hand, has been barred from the first-team squad due to a public falling out with Ten Hag. The England international has refused to apologize to the Dutch tactician since and won't feature for Manchester United in the foreseeable future.
Ten Hag has been left in a helpless situation and will need to bounce back against Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Wednesday, September 20.
Nice star reveals why he rejected Manchester United in the summer
Nice centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo recently said he rejected Manchester United's advances this summer because the club failed to convince him of their project and role in the team.
The French defender was heavily linked with a £34 million move to Old Trafford in August. The 23-year-old was expected to replace Harry Maguire in Manchester United's squad, with the Englishman expected to join West Ham United for £30 million.
However, Maguire's transfer broke down, partly leading to Todibo's move collapsing as well. Todibo admitted he wasn't keen on a switch to Manchester United, telling L'Equipe (via METRO):
"I have given it [the links to United] in-depth thought and I remained calm. I didn’t want to make the wrong choice. I expect to be presented with the full picture. What are you expecting from me? Why am I signing? You shouldn’t arrive at a club asking yourself this. I know what I have in Nice, so why leave? Everything must be clear."
Todibo has impressed for Ligue 1 side Nice over the past three years. He has made 107 appearances across all competitions and scored two goals.