Gary Neville claims Erik ten Hag is ‘outachieving anything that I could imagine’ at Man United

Gary Neville believes Erik ten Hag is overachieving at Manchester United and has urged the club’s next owners to back him when they arrive at Old Trafford.

United closed to within five points of top spot in the Premier League on Sunday with a 3-0 win over Leicester, and have a Carabao Cup final to look forward to later this week.

The Red Devils have spent the past decade looking for a successor to Sir Alex Ferguson and, despite having moments of success under Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, they have fallen behind some of their Premier League rivals.

Ten Hag has impressed during his first six months in the dugout, though, and Neville has suggested that what he’s doing is more sustainable, with the United boss getting more out of his players than any of his predecessors.

‘This manager does seem to have something different at this moment in time. He’s getting a lot more out of the squad than I would expect,’ Neville said on the Gary Neville Podcast.

Erik ten Hag’s rejuvenated Manchester United are five points off the top of the Premier League

Gary Neville has been very impressed and thinks Ten Hag is getting the most out of his players

‘I think some of those (previous United) managers had better players and better squads.

‘If you’d said to me that Manchester United a year ago with Ralf Rangnick as manager, would be playing today with Marcus Rashford up front with Wout Weghorst and Garnacho, I’d be saying: “we’re in a bit of trouble here”. 

‘If you’d said that Martial would still be holding the line up front, Lindelof, Wan-Bissaka, Fred, McTominay, all these players, they’re still here. A lot of the same players that populated the last few seasons are still populating this squad, but it does feel like this manager is getting a lot out of them. 

‘And he will need further support in the transfer market to get Manchester United back where they are. 

‘Because he’s overperforming and outachieving anything that I could imagine at this moment in time. But let’s say they spent £300m in the summer on 3-4 world-class players, that expectation would rise from thinking “we’re in the Carabao Cup final, we now want to be challenging for the title”. So that’s the next step that’s coming, but for now it’s really, really good. 

‘I like Erik ten Hag, he’s very serious about his work. He’s made big decisions that I expect have made him really popular in the dressing room around the captain, the star player, the way he’s dealt with Sancho in a sensitive way. 

‘I think that demonstrates that he’s got a wide range of skills to be able to deal with tough situations.’

United’s success on the pitch has come amid some uncertainty off it, with multiple parties launching bids to take over the club from the Glazer family.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos could be United’s next owners, and Neville wants the club to back Ten Hag in the upcoming transfer windows

Qatari investors, led by banker Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Al Thani, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s Ineos both submitted bids to buy the club before last Friday’s ‘soft deadline’.

It remains unclear as to who will get the nod, but Neville has called for whoever takes over the club to give Ten Hag all the support he needs to make United a major force in the Premier League once more. 

‘This manager deserves his period of time. He’s demonstrated that at Ajax, he’s done enough in his first season (at United). I think it would be madness that any owner would come in and think straight away “we’re going to change this coach”. I don’t think they would have that even in their minds,’ Neville added.

‘In fact, I would have it that complete opposite that this coach needs supporting for the next couple of years at least off the back of this one. Three years is the minimum time I would give Erik ten Hag. What he’s done already, he looks like the real deal.’