The seven key questions Man United’s board MUST answer at today’s crucial London summit that could spell the end for manager Erik ten Hag

Manchester United co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer met at Old Trafford on Monday ahead of a crunch board meeting in London today that could determine the fate of manager Erik ten Hag.

Glazer made a rare appearance at the stadium where he is routinely abused in his absence by supporters who want the American majority shareholders to sell up, and attended a meeting of the fans’ advisory board.

Former United captain Gary Neville, who serves on the stadium taskforce, was also spotted at Old Trafford which suggested that plans for a new £2billion Wembley of the North were also on the agenda.

But the future of Ten Hag is attracting the most intense interest as Ratcliffe and Glazer head to London to meet other senior executives on Tuesday.

Although club sources insist it’s a scheduled monthly meeting, the timing of it feels crucial for Ten Hag as he once again battles to save his job.

Ratcliffe refused to give the Dutchman his public backing last week and was at Villa Park on Sunday to see United make their worst start to a Premier League season as he sat alongside director Sir Dave Brailsford, chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox.

While Ratcliffe has said that Ten Hag’s future is ‘not my call’, it’s understood that the ultimate decision will be made by him, Glazer and Brailsford based on recommendations from Berrada, Ashworth and Wilcox.

Chief operating officer Collete Roche and chief financial officer Roger Bell will also be at Tuesday’s executive committee meeting.

Mail Sport takes a look at the key questions they will have to answer when deciding on Ten Hag’s future and any potential replacements.

Have United actually improved this season?

Ten Hag survived by the skin of his teeth in the summer after winning the FA Cup, having overseen United’s lowest-ever Premier League finish with a negative goal difference, and a disastrous Champions League campaign.

Despite spending another £200million on new signings – taking the total outlay under Ten Hag past the £600m mark – the goalless draw at Villa saw United slump to 14th place after their worst ever Premier League start after seven games.

The first two Europa League ties have brought draws against FC Twente and FC Porto after Ten Hag’s side led in both games.

Although some of the chaos of last season has given way to more controlled football, it resurfaced in the back-to-back 3-0 defeats at home to Liverpool and Tottenham in the league, and the 3-3 draw in Porto.

Ten Hag’s side have now conceded three or more goals on 24 occasions in two-and-a-half years under him, while scoring just five times in seven Premier League games this season. They have failed to find the net in the last three matches, extending the barren run to six hours and eight minutes.

It begs the question: do the United hierarchy see enough signs of improvement in United to believe that Ten Hag is still the right man to take the club forward.

Has £600m in the transfer market been well spent?

It’s a damning indictment of the transfer policy under Ten Hag that his line-up for the potentially make-or-break trip to Villa on Sunday included just three players that United have paid to sign for him.

Andre Onana, Rasmus Hojlund and Noussair Mazraoui cost a total of £136.3m. 

A further £347.1m-worth of stars – Casemiro, Matthijs de Ligt, Lisandro Martinez, Joshua Zirkzee, Antony, Manuel Ugarte and Altay Bayindir – were left on the bench, while Leny Yoro, Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia (total spend £133.6m) were out injured.

While the £86m spent on Antony must rank as one of the worst pieces of business in United’s history, and Hojlund too seems vastly overpriced at £72m, serious questions are already being asked about De Ligt, Zirkzee and Ugarte.

Although United’s new leadership group must take their fair share of responsibility for new signings, they continued to back Ten Hag by predominantly signing either Dutch footballers or players he knew from Ajax.

When he needed a big result against Villa, he only used three of them alongside three star pupils from the club’s academy, three players he inherited and two free signings which included Jonny Evans who was man of the match at the age of 36.

If Ten Hag can’t back his own judgement in the transfer market then his employers could be forgiven for asking how they can back him.

Has he improved the players he inherited?

Ten Hag deserves credit for the way he has promoted youth, particularly in the case of Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho.

But Marcus Rashford – another shining light of the academy and arguably United’s greatest asset –has gone backwards dramatically since firing 30 goals in Ten Hag’s first season and signing a new £300,000-a-week contract.

The two men have had their differences over Rashford’s discipline and maintain what can best be described as a fragile relationship.

Harry Maguire is finally regaining his form after being relieved of the captaincy and relegated down the pecking order of centre-backs, while Bruno Fernandes, the man handed the armband, is currently enduring his worst spell at United.

Aside from the young ones, is there a player who has improved under Ten Hag? It seems unfair to compare him with the Midas touch of Pep Guardiola when it comes to getting the best out of players, but that is the level United must aspire to.

Are the fans behind him?

One factor in Ten Hag’s favour is that he retains the support of the majority of the fan-base who have remained loyal through difficult times.

Two trophies in two seasons have helped, and fans are sympathetic to the fact that he inherited a culture at United that needing transforming.

There is no clamour for Ten Hag to go, no toxicity and no acceptance that change is inevitable, as there was with Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal and even Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and that is at least giving the club’s board some breathing space.

Are his tactics working?

Ten Hag has talked consistently about sticking to ‘the process’ but it has always seemed unclear exactly what that process is to those of us watching and, often, his own players.

Having had less possession and shots on goal than even some of their modest opponents last season, Ten Hag’s plan is to have more of the ball, with limited results so far.

While United are undoubtedly taking more control of games, and their expected goal stats have risen accordingly, they simply aren’t scoring enough. There were chants of ‘attack, attack, attack’ from the fans at Villa, a sure-fire sign of their frustration.

Now into his third season as United manager, Ten Hag’s philosophy is still somewhat blurry. When you compare that to the clear impact coaches like Enzo Maresca, Arne Slot, Ange Postecoglou and Fabian Hurzeler have had on their new clubs, it’s hard to fathom.

Can they afford to sack him and who is the replacement?

Getting rid of a manager is simple enough as long as you have enough money to pay him compensation, but having the right replacement lined up is the hard part.

The landscape is similar to how it was when Ineos interviewed a number of candidates around the FA Cup final in May before deciding that Ten Hag was still the best man for the job.

Thomas Tuchel probably came closest to getting it after meeting with Ratcliffe in Monaco, and is known to be admired by United’s co-owner.

The German is still available and there was fresh speculation on Monday that he could be a target again.

It’s unclear if the obstacles that prevented him from replacing Ten Hag in the summer can be overcome now, and at this stage there has been no new contact between United and his representatives.

With the notable exception of former England boss Gareth Southgate, United would be picking from a similar field that includes Thomas Frank, Roberto De Zerbi, Graham Potter, Kieran McKenna and Marco Silva.

The questions are these: are any of them an upgrade on Ten Hag? And amid a cost-cutting drive, can they even afford to pay him millions in compensation to go?

Could Van Nistelrooy step in?

Unlike last time, United have a more suitable option in-house to replace Ten Hag, even if it was on an interim basis.

Ruud van Nistelrooy returned to the club in the summer as part of a coaching shake-up after turning down several managerial jobs, and has experience of being a head coach at PSV Eindhoven.

The dynamic of his relationship with Ten Hag has come under more scrutiny recently, and they were seen having an animated conversation at Villa Park.

If the decision is made to reluctantly part ways with Ten Hag, having Van Nistelrooy on hand to take the reins would buy United time.