Why Manchester United must trust Erik Ten Hag until the end

Manchester United has been searching for the right manager since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club and because of their quest for quick success, several gaffers have been sacked by the club.

The Red Devils are one of the biggest clubs in European football and one of the richest in the world.

Since Ferguson left the role as their manager, several world-class coaches have been at the helm of the club, including Jose Mourinho and Louis Van Gaal, but they have all fallen below expectations.

United had one of their old boys, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, at the helm not so long ago and he did get some time to make things happen.

However, just as the club does, it swallowed him up again. We cannot call Solskjaer a world-class manager, but as a former player, the Norwegian commanded a lot of respect and brought stability to the team.

In an ideal situation, that should be enough for him to spend decades, but when the results began to deteriorate, thanks to the return of Cristiano Ronaldo, he was sacked.

After spending a few months under the leadership of the master of the pressing game, Ralf Rangnick, United brought on Erik Ten Hag from Ajax.

The Dutchman has honed his skills with spells under some great coaches, including Pep Guardiola and did wonders at Ajax, nearly leading them to the final of the Champions League in 2019.

His side dominated the Dutch top flight and he mastered the act of developing talents at the Johan Cruyff Arena. What more can you ask for in a manager?

He moved to England last season and made an instant impact, helping United to return to the Champions League, winning the League Cup and reaching the final of the FA Cup.

His team were unstoppable at times last term, with Marcus Rashford hitting his best career form under the new manager.

But this term has been dismal, with the Red Devils struggling for form and most of their key men looking far out of their depths.

Casemiro and Raphael Varane have been terrible, with the Frenchman losing his first-team place to veteran defender Jonny Evans.

But Manchester United ticket buyers will always pay more attention to the work the manager is doing, which is why the pressure is on Ten Hag now.

Some have called for him to be sacked, but that would be a silly mistake. Here are the reasons United must keep their manager.

A constant managerial change will keep success far away

Changing managers constantly hardly brings success to any club and this is the difference between the top sides in the Premier League and the struggling clubs.

Jurgen Klopp has been at Liverpool since 2015, while Pep Guardiola has been at the helm at Manchester City since 2016. It is little wonder both clubs are the top sides in the league.

Not that there haven't been bad times; in fact, last season was one of Liverpool’s worst in the history of the English top flight, but they kept faith in their manager, Klopp.

Some other teams would have replaced the German, but Liverpool never considered that possibility and instead backed him with a squad rejuvenation at the end of the season.

City was terrible in Pep’s first season on their bench, and instead of considering the decision to sack the manager, they opened the chequebook and backed him with more world-class talents.

Today, he has had unrivalled success in England, and they continue to offer him all the support he needs as he spends time on their bench.

If Manchester United wants to become a top club again, they must be patient with Ten Hag and stick with him as he changes the culture at the club and builds a newer and more successful one.

Success takes time and we know there are must-win games for Ten Hag to save his job, but he is not a magician.

He has made a good start

Ten Hag has made a fine start to his time as the manager of Manchester United after joining them from Ajax.

In his first season, he nearly won both domestic cups despite inheriting a squad that had failed to make the top four in the previous campaign.

His side has since become one of the top sides in the league and he is up there with Sir Alex Ferguson on some United records.

Last term, he matched Ferguson’s record as the United manager with the most home wins in a season.

The Dutchman had the best win rate by any United permanent manager at the start of November when he had won 62.3% of his games as the club’s manager, and only Jose Mourinho came close.

In this campaign, things have not looked as positive as they were for United last term, so there is a call for him to be sacked.

However, that would be one of the biggest mistakes the club has made because they will hardly find a better manager anywhere in the world.

United has too many average players.

Ten Hag joined one of the biggest clubs in Europe when he moved to United, but he met a squad filled with average players.

The likes of Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay have been fine players in the club’s colours over the years, but there is a reason they are hardly linked with a move to Real Madrid or other top clubs.

This is because they are all average players, even though they have some good games now and then.

He came from an Ajax side that had superb talents, thanks to his fine work in developing players.

But at United, he met players who were supposed to be established, yet they were nothing but average performers, which affected how the team performed in every game.

To get the result the club wants, he needs time to improve the players he met at Old Trafford, or he must be supported by signing new world-class players.

Without any of these, any manager that the club appoints next will struggle to get results on their bench and they will keep sacking and replacing coaches.

He has not lost the dressing room

Ten Hag has made some bold decisions since becoming Manchester United's manager.

Firstly, he sold Cristiano Ronaldo after the attacker’s bombshell interview with Piers Morgan and did not lose the support of the dressing room.

He handled Ronaldo’s presence in his squad well and put the team before the Portuguese performer.

Ten Hag also banished Jadon Sancho from the first team after the Englishman publicly called him out and his players stood by their manager.

This is very important because, at another time, these decisions could have made his players turn against him.

But Ten Hag still has the Manchester United dressing room, which is very important at a big club.

It shows the players support the manager’s decision and like to work with him, so the club will make a serious mistake to sack the manager.

The last few weeks have been tough for United as they struggle with inconsistency on and off the pitch.

However, Ten Hag is the right man for the job and the last thing the club should do is to sack him.