Manchester United icon Jaap Stam insists Erik ten Hag needs to leave the club before delivering a damning verdict of the Dutchman’s style of football as Red Devils boss.
After achieving a third-placed finish in his maiden campaign at Old Trafford, Ten Hag entered last season looking to build on his burgeoning success at the club.
However, the campaign would ultimately prove to be a decidedly mixed bag for United, with incidents off the pitch involving the likes of Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford compounded with a lack of consistency on it.
The club would win just one Champions League game to finish bottom of their group for the first time in nearly two decades, and recorded their worst-ever Premier League finish as injuries severely depleted his defence.
Ten Hag would go on to win the FA Cup, ultimately saving him from what seemed to be a certain sacking by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, allowing him another crack at moulding the team in his image despite failing to impress with his drab style of play.
Jaap Stam (left) has called for Erik ten Hag (right) to leave Man United on the eve of the new Premier League season
Stam isn’t convinced by Ten Hag and has criticised his style of football while at United
And on the eve of the new Premier League season, where United will kick off the new campaign by hosting Fulham on Friday, Stam told Simon Jordan on his William Hill podcast ‘Up Front with Simon Jordan’, that his compatriot needs to leave the club – despite only signing a new one-year extension just last month.
Stam said to Jordan: ‘For Ten Hag, it’s his third season at United – I think he needs to go. I think it’s good he signed a new contract because he still needs that little bit of help.
‘He needs to look at himself and how last season panned out, I don’t always agree with him in terms of him saying they played good football.
‘I understand that as a manager you need to be positive about your players and help them out by taking some of the pressure away. That said, it’s also good to just be honest as a manager and say that your team played rubbish football.
‘He needs to step up this season, there have been a lot of changes made at the club with the staff so I’m curious how it’s going to work out for them.’
Stam also highlighted that it’s no surprise that two Dutch managers have been given the top jobs with two of the Premier League giants.
Stam said: ‘I’m not surprised Erik ten Hag and Arne Slot are managing two of the biggest clubs in the Premier League, you just need to look at how they performed in Holland.
Ten Hag signed a one-year contract extension last month after winning the FA Cup
Stam (left) told Simon Jordan (right) that Ten Hag now needs to step up and improve the team
‘Granted in the Eredivisie you have Feyenoord, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven as the big clubs, and the rest of the teams in the league aren’t comparable, and even those top three teams would struggle in the Premier League.
‘I think both managers have a great philosophy about playing with their dominance going forward on the front foot.
‘Slot did it at Feyenoord, with a couple of good investments and good players and has now done a similar thing with two teams in Holland. I think he’s made the right step moving to Liverpool, but can he do it there?’
