Kevin-Prince Boateng believes Manchester United should sack Erik ten Hag
Former Tottenham, AC Milan and Ghana midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng believes Manchester United should sack Erik ten Hag.
United have endured a poor start to the season with four defeats in seven Premier League games, while they were beaten 4-3 by Bayern Munich in their Champions League opener last month.
Boateng feels Ten Hag ‘is not on the level’ to remain as United’s manager and has criticised the Dutchman’s handling of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho during his time at Old Trafford.
Boateng: ‘I think he’s got to go’
‘I think he’s got to go,’ Boateng told Vibe With Five. ‘From what I’m seeing, there’s no energy. I don’t see any energy. And then what he did to Ronaldo and all that, it’s too much stuff. I think he’s not on the level to be the coach of Man United. Even the team is not the best, they have some good players but not the best. But still there’s no fire. When you come to Old Trafford, it’s like how you said, they put in a ball and there’s no pace, no one gets angry, no one puts in passion and fire. If my players aren’t doing that then me as a coach, I have to do that.’
On Ten Hag’s handling of Ronaldo
Asked what issue he has with Ten Hag’s handling of Ronaldo, Boateng replied: ‘He was the top scorer and he just kicked him out, he goes against the best player in the team, you don’t do that, you have to give him respect. There’s ways to let a player off and I think he chose the wrong way.’
On Ten Hag’s handling of Sancho
On the bust-up between Ten Hag and Jadon Sancho, Boateng said: ‘I think both are wrong, but you don’t have to put it out that way. It looks so bad for the club, for Ten Hag, for Sancho, it just looks really negative. You only read negative stuff, ‘he says this, they say that’. I think you just need to sit down with the player and tell him honestly what you think, what he has to do, the player says what he has to do, then he leaves or stays there and gives everything. I don’t think Sancho gives everything, like he’s not there with his head 100 per cent, but I think Man United as well in the wrong, so you just have to find a solution.
Asked if Sancho made the wrong choice in joining United, Boateng said: ‘Yeah, it’s a comfort zone. He comes here, his friends are around, you know how it is, I as the same, when I came back to Berlin I had my friends around and football was second. In Dortmund he didn’t have anyone around and look how he performed, he was flying because he was focusing on football. There were no excuses. Now he has excuses, ‘the coach doesn’t like me, I don’t train good but others aren’t training good’, no, think about yourself, do your job and whenever you do your job you can say you did it, and then the coach can decide, he can say, ‘I don’t like the way you play’, but with your chest out you can shake his hand, but they have leverage to attack him and you as a player don’t give the chance to attack you.’
Conclusion
It’s clear from Kevin-Prince Boateng’s comments that he believes Manchester United should sack Erik ten Hag due to his poor handling of both Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho. Ten Hag’s lack of energy and passion has been noted by Boateng as well as his inability to get the best out of his players. It remains to be seen if Ten Hag will be able to turn things around at Old Trafford or if he will be replaced in the near future.