MU Treble winner calls for the Red Devils to BACK ETH and give him more time

A former Manchester United Treble winner has called for Erik ten Hag to be given more time at the club.

Pressure has increased on the Dutchman on the back of his side's 3-0 defeat by Liverpool last Sunday, with the Red Devils losing two of their first three matches of the season.

Ten Hag came close to losing his job in the summer, but United's new hierarchy opted to stick with him as manager of the team rather than making a change.

The future remains unclear, however, despite public backing from CEO Omar Berrada, with fans still split with their opinions on his role.

Nicky Butt, however, who was part of the United squad that lifted the historic Treble in 1999, has leapt to the defence of Ten Hag while speaking to Sky Sports at United's legends game against Celtic on Saturday.

'I think the international break has come at a good time for the manager and the team,' Butt said. 'He can concentrate on some stuff on the training ground.

'Hopefully he'll get the players back fit with no injuries and go again. He's got some winnable games coming up, but at Man United you're always going to be under pressure. Erik ten Hag knows that.

'To me, right down the spine of the team, people can run right through the middle. They've bought the new lad in [Manuel Ugarte], he hopefully can fill a gap. But we've got some good players, and hopefully the manager can get them playing the way he wants them to play and get some results.

'No one is saying they're going to win the league this year. If anyone says that they're jokers, so basically they're going to have to bide their time and stick with the manager. If they're not going to do that, they may as well have got rid of him in the summer.'

Over the last few months, new minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has restructured the off-field set up at United, bringing in Dan Ashworth as sporting director and Berrada as CEO.

Ten Hag has the full backing of the United hierarchy, Berrada has insisted, claiming that he will 'support him in every way I possibly can... to allow him to fully focus on the training pitch and the match tactical plan to deliver success for Manchester United.'

Ratcliffe, however, was seen head in hands a week ago as his side fell to their latest thrashing by one of their arch rivals at Old Trafford.

Gary Neville, who was also part of the Treble-winning side, has also defended Ten Hag, insisting that the majority of fans want him to stick around.

'I think there was some sentiment after the [FA Cup] final,' Neville said of the Dutchman on the latest episode of Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet. 'The fans wanted Ten Hag to be kept on and backed.

They have seen enough managers sacked over the years. I think they sounded out Graham Potter, Gareth Southgate, Roberto De Zerbi and Thomas Tuchel around that time, but there was a bit of a negative reaction from fans.

'There is no doubt they were having a flirt around the market and seeing what they could do. I think if there was an unbelievable manager that could improve United 100 per cent, beyond what Ten Hag could, they would have made a change. Liverpool had six months to replace Jurgen Klopp and still found it challenging to get their top targets.'