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Rob Dawson, Correspondent
Manchester United club bosses are minded to keep faith with manager Erik ten Hag in the immediate aftermath of the humiliating 3-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, sources have told ESPN, but there is a growing acceptance that the Dutchman is now under severe pressure ahead of crucial games against FC Porto and Aston Villa this week.
Heavy home defeats to Liverpool and Spurs already this season have not gone down well with United’s hierarchy.
The club are prepared to honour their decision in the summer to stick with Ten Hag for now, but the feeling remains that there must be significant improvement when the team face Porto in the Europa League on Thursday and Villa in the Premier League on Sunday. The game at Villa Park is United’s last before a two-week international break.
Sources have told ESPN that back-to-back 3-0 home league defeats to Liverpool and Spurs have caused concern.
The manner of the two performances — as well as a lacklustre showing in the second half of the 1-1 draw with FC Twente last week — is also considered alarming.
United believe they are well-prepared to make a change if results and performances do not pick up. Promoting assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy — at least in the short term — is considered a viable option if a change becomes necessary.
Van Nistelrooy has managerial experience with PSV Eindhoven and would have the support of fellow assistant, Rene Hake, who was head coach at FC Utrecht and Go Ahead Eagles in the Netherlands before joining United.
Club bosses including co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS director of sport Sir Dave Brailsford spoke to different managers in the summer and there is a belief that the recruitment process would be drastically shortened after doing due diligence on a number of potential managerial candidates at the end of last season.
A source has told ESPN that the club will consider the situation carefully over the coming days and are reluctant to get drawn into a knee-jerk reaction following the defeat to Spurs.
United’s return of seven points from their first six games is their joint-worst ever start to a Premier League campaign.
They have also lost back-to-back home matches in the league without scoring for the first time since November 2021 in what were Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s final two games at Old Trafford before he was sacked.
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