Defiant Erik Ten Hag insists he doesn’t fear Man United sacking – as under-pressure boss vows to ‘bounce back’ from crushing home defeat to Tottenham

Erik Ten Hag insisted that he doesn’t fear the axe after Manchester United sank to another pitiful Old Trafford defeat against Tottenham.

Former United captain Gary Neville blasted United’s performance as ‘disgusting’, while fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said it was the kind of display that gets managers sacked.

Ten Hag kept his job in the summer but is now under huge pressure again after United – who had captain Bruno Fernandes sent off – suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats against Spurs and Liverpool at home in the Premier League.

Asked if he fears for his future, the United boss said: ‘No, I’m not thinking about this. We all made this decision to stay together, as an ownership, as a leadership group in the summer.

‘Also we made the decision from a clear review what we have to improve as an organisation, but we knew it will take some time.

‘We are all on one page, or in one boat, together – the ownership, the leadership group, the staff and the players as well. I don’t have that concern. Of course, there is always a new game, it will be a new day. We will bounce back.’

United were behind within three minutes when Micky van de Ven charged through half the United team to set up Brennan Johnson, four days after Bart Van Rooij did exactly the same for FC Twente at Old Trafford in the Europa League.

‘It is also obvious you have to learn as a team,’ added Ten Hag. ‘It can’t happen twice in four days that a defender of the opponent can dribble through the whole park without being stopped. 

These things are impossible in top football, you can’t make such mistakes. It shouldn’t happen and especially when we address it so loud and clear.

‘The first 30 minutes was below the level of what we can expect from a Man United team. 

‘Even when you concede so early, you should stay calm and just stick together and stick to the plan. Then you would have a foothold in the game and we didn’t have this.

‘The players got very stressful after they conceded the goal so quickly, and they make some very bad decisions. We should have done better.’

United were also hit by the loss of Fernandes before half-time after the United skipper was shown a straight red card for a challenge on James Maddison.

Ten Hag added: ‘The red card changes the game. I don’t think it was a red card.’

The Dutchman has now started the season by losing three of his opening six league games as United sank to 12th place behind Brentford.

Neville told Sky Sports: ‘The Man United fans boo the ref but that’s not even half the story. The big story was that first half. They have chosen to put in their very worst performance.

‘It was a disgusting performance in effort and quality, and a lot of questions to answer from that group in the next week.

‘It’s one of the worst performances I have seen under Ten Hag – and that’s saying something. Awful, atrocious, disgusting, it was all those things in the first half.

‘The pressure is going to get ramped up this week – it’s going to be brutal. It has been a bad day for Ten Hag, really bad.’

Fellow pundit Redknapp added: ‘I’ve watched a lot of performances when managers suddenly lose their jobs, and that’s the sort of performance that gets the manager the sack.

‘When your club are actively looking for another manager, you’re in a massively untenable position because the players know that you’re not the man. You cannot keep the manager after looking for other managers. They’re playing like they’re lost.’

Another former United star, Rio Ferdinand, weighed in by saying: ‘It’s an absolute p***-poor performance, I’ve got to be honest. 

‘Powder-puff, embarrassing, no real idea and no real fight. It has been an absolute s***-show.’

‘In that changing room at half-time, please tell me there were arguments or someone got put up against the wall or someone kicked something. I just want some fight, bare minimum.’