Days before Man United visit Liverpool in the Premier League, the Manchester club have banned journalists over a story regarding Erik ten Hag’s future.
Ten Hag is facing ongoing scrutiny at Man United, but the Dutchman has held onto his position as manager heading into next week’s clash at Anfield.
United’s longest run of wins this season is three – victories over Brentford, Sheffield United and FC Copenhagen in October – and every upturn in fortunes comes followed by a demoralising loss.
Most recently, back-to-back wins over Luton and Everton then saw an error-ridden 3-3 draw at Galatasaray and a 1-0 defeat to Newcastle.
Widespread reports this week have claimed that Ten Hag is now losing confidence among players, with Sky Sports hearing he “has lost 50 percent of the dressing room.”
The Manchester Evening News added that “some staff members” were turning against the manager, saying that they and “a mounting list of players harbour doubts about his methods.”
It is claimed that some long-serving players are “startled by the calibre of Ten Hag’s signings,” including summer arrival Mason Mount.
This has now led to Man United banning Sky Sports and the Manchester Evening News from Tuesday’s pre-match press conference, along with NBC Sports and the Mirror.
The move comes, according to a club spokesperson relayed by the Manchester Evening News, “as the club was not approached for comment on [the] multiply-sourced story” on Ten Hag’s situation.
Journalists from those outlets were therefore not permitted to attend the preview for Man United vs. Chelsea, with the fixture taking place on Wednesday night.
While it could suggest a siege mentality around the under-fire manager, more so it simply highlights the fragility within the club, which seemingly extends to Ten Hag.
All this comes less than two weeks before United head to Anfield, with that game taking place on December 17, which will be a pressure clash for Ten Hag and his players.
The former Ajax manager has already overseen United’s biggest defeat to Liverpool in their history, that being the 7-0 away loss in March.
His predecessor, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, was relieved of his duties a month after his side’s 5-0 defeat at Anfield in 2021.
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