sport news Erik ten Hag has 'lost the plot' in 'CAR CRASH' head coach position at Man ... trends now
Chris Sutton has claimed that Erik ten Hag has 'lost the plot' as his second season at Manchester United has unravelled on Mail Sport's It's All Kicking Off podcast.
The embattled manager is looking less and less likely to find himself in the Old Trafford dugout next season after his side slumped to another humiliating defeat against Crystal Palace on Monday night.
Although the club are not thought to be mulling replacing the head coach before the side's FA Cup final against Manchester City at the end of the season, a number of alternative candidates are believed to be under consideration for the role, including Thomas Tuchel and former Chelsea coach Graham Potter.
But both Sutton and his co-host - and Mail Sport Football Editor - Ian Ladyman stressed that change at the beleagured club might not come solely with a move for a new manager next season.
The pundit even went as far as stating that the role itself was difficult to handle for most highly skilled managers, citing the turbulent years that followed the end of Sir Alex Ferguson's heavily decorated reign.
Erik ten Hag's role at Manchester United is looking increasingly under siege at the end of term
The Dutchman's side endured a 4-0 humbling at Selhurst Park against Palace on Monday
Sir Jim Ratcliffe (right) is thought to be hunting for a replacement ahead of next season
But Sutton and Ladyman first discussed Man United's immediate task - attempting to halt Arsenal's title tilt at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
The former Blackburn Rovers and Celtic man predicted Arsenal to 'win comfortably' against Ten Hag's 'massively depleted' side, adding that it was hard to imagine how things could get much more depressing in Manchester.
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'The form is that bad,' Sutton said. 'And when you're outplayed - Crystal Palace were basically showboating in the first half, Eze and Elise. When it gets like that, can it get any worse?
'Fair play to the supporters for sticking with them. But blimey, how much longer can they stick with players who are playing at such a low level?'
In the wake of the loss at Selhurst Park, a number of ex-United voices including Paul Scholes called for Ten Hag's assistant Steve McClaren to take the reins for the remainder of the season.
But as Ladyman argued: 'If he's such a good coach, why has he not had any kind of impact on this shambles of the United team in the last eight or nine months?
'I was thinking about something this week about Ten Hag and the thing that surprises me about Ten Hag is not that he's struggled because he's not the first manager to struggle at that football club,' Ladyman continued.
'But it surprises me that he's not come across this season as a coach. And when he came from Ajax, that was his reputation. His reputation was one of a clever, bright, modern coach. But there's been absolutely no sign of that this season.
Former Man United manager Jose Mourinho may have overstated his influence but would have a plan for title-chasing Arsenal
Ten Hag's assistant Steve McClaren (left) has been floated as his interim replacement
'For example, and I never ever want to hold Jose Mourinho up as an example, but I'm going to because as a modern coach, Mourinho is largely a busted flush in terms of the modern game.
'And he certainly wasn't as effective as he likes to pretend he was when he was at United. But if someone like Mourinho was in charge of this team for Sunday, you can imagine that he would have a plan, and you know what that plan would be.
