‘You can’t be 14th in the league after nine games’: Gary Neville pinpoints when he thinks Erik ten Hag will be sacked with pressure becoming ‘unbearable’ after Man United lose again

Manchester United legend Gary Neville has stared into his crystal ball and revealed when he believes beleaguered boss Erik ten Hag will be relieved of his duties at Old Trafford.

The Red Devils plumbed new depths on Sunday after slumping to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of West Ham thanks to a last-minute penalty converted by Jarrod Bowen. Ten Hag later branded the decision yet another example of ‘injustice’ against his struggling side.

Crysencio Summerville’s 74th-minute opener followed a first-half devoid of quality and was soon cancelled out by a Casemiro header, before Bowen broke United hearts. 

The defeat leaves the Red Devils in 14th – below the Hammers – having won just 11 points from their first nine matches, piling pressure on a struggling ten Hag.

Now former right-back Neville has pinpointed exactly when he thinks the Dutchman will get sacked, while talking on his Sky Sports podcast. 

He said: ‘Erik ten Hag is asking for trouble. He’s 14th in the league nine games in, and nine games is nearly 25 per cent of the season gone.

‘It will be a big worry for everybody at the club because the performance levels… United should have been up but they lost. 

‘They are 14th, they’ve spent a fortune. I was quite clear at the end of last season that if they’re in that same position in the league after the first few months there will be a lot of questions being asked.

‘They’ve got a game in midweek but it will all come down to next weekend’s game against Chelsea. 

‘Anybody that is half decent, that can play, have the quality in parts of the pitch, can beat this United team and they’re in danger.

‘I don’t think there can be another defeat next weekend at Old Trafford. It’s getting to that point where there is a real worry, I’m worried. The results, the lack of goals, lack of performances are stacking up week after week.

‘These are the players that have been recruited over the last couple of seasons mainly. It’s a sobering time. It’s getting to the point whereby it will become unbearable the pressure in the next week or two around Ten Hag purely because of the position in the league. 

‘They’re 14th. You can’t be 14th in the league after nine games.’

Earlier this week, it was revealed the club had held secret talks with a number of managers over replacing Erik ten Hag as the Dutchman once again fights to save his job at Old Trafford. 

Mail Sport revealed that United spoke with Xavi Hernandez 10 days ago after a four-man delegation led by chief executive Omar Berrada flew to Barcelona, while Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim and former Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzic are also on the list of potential targets.

It’s understood that Brentford’s Thomas Frank is once again under strong consideration having been linked with the job at Old Trafford in the summer.

The club’s co-owners interviewed many candidates then before deciding to keep Ten Hag and extend his contract by a year. But the fact United have resumed their search for a replacement behind the scenes has cast fresh doubt over the 54-year-old’s future.

While it isn’t certain United will sack Ten Hag after two-and-a-half years in charge having given him another stay of execution in the last international break, he will be vulnerable when the Premier League pauses again next month if results do not improve. 

And a defeat to struggling West Ham will have done little to boost his chances of seeing out the season in the Old Trafford hot seat.