Erik ten Hag's 'average' squad needs to be 'dismantled' after Spurs hammering

Former Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard has slammed the club for signing 'average' players under Erik ten Hag and insisted the team will need to be 'dismantled' if the Dutchman is sacked.

United slumped to their third defeat of the new Premier League season on Sunday as Tottenham scored three times to inflict more misery on Ten Hag and his newly-formed coaching staff.

The Old Trafford hosts were already playing poorly when captain Bruno Fernandes was controversially sent off in the first-half after Brennan Johnson had given the visitors an early lead.

Further misery followed when 10-men United conceded two more times with both Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke both scoring to complete a resounding 3-0 win.

Defeat piles more intense scrutiny on Ten Hag's managerial position at the club after the 54-year-old was kept in charge following United's FA Cup victory over Manchester City at the end of last season.

A huge summer of recruitment saw the club's new INEOS-backed model invest heavily in bringing in players Ten Hag wanted, but ex-United goalkeeper, Howard, believes some of them aren't good enough to play for the English giants.

Four of United's summer arrivals started against Spurs with Joshua Zirkzee leading the line, Manuel Ugarte trusted in midfield and Matthijs De Ligt playing alongside Noussair Mazraoui in defence.

Blasting his former employers' squad after losing to Spurs, Howard told NBC Sports: 'They doubled-down on Ten Hag and backed him by bringing in more of his players.

'When you look at the squad it's not a brilliant squad, they spent a lot of money on some average players, certainly not Manchester United players.

'If you get rid of him then you have to dismantle this team he has created. I'm not sure why they didn't, maybe financial reasons or they didn't have the right person in place to replace him or maybe they truly believed he was the right person.

'I'm not sure that it looks that way,' added Howard who previously made 77 appearances for United.

Opinion has largely been split among United supporters over whether to keep Ten Hag in charge or replace him with another world class European manager, but options are limited.

Thomas Tuchel represents an obvious target as a free agent after leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, while United chiefs have also expressed previous preference over ex-England boss Gareth Southgate.