Dutch legend rants over ‘idiotic’ Ten Hag spending on bad players and savages Man Utd trio

Legendary Netherlands forward Marco van Basten has savaged Erik ten Hag’s spending during his time at Manchester United and also gone to town on three players after the disastrous loss to Tottenham on Sunday.

Goals from Brennan Johnson, Dejan Kulusevski and Dominic Solanke at Old Trafford heaped even more pressure on Ten Hag’s tenure as Spurs completely outplayed 10-man United.

But a third defeat from six Premier League games sees the Red Devils currently occupying 13th spot on the table, with Ten Hag and his team being slammed for their latest outing.

And Van Basten was hugely critical of individuals as well as his fellow countryman in terms of the more than £600million that Man Utd have splashed out on players since his arrival.

Speaking to Ziggo Sport after the game, he said: “It’s idiotic how much (Ten Hag) has decided to invest in players who are not even good.”

Summer signing Manuel Ugarte came in for particular criticism, with Van Basten adding: “I saw a new player walking around at Manchester United, (Manuel) Ugarte, for €50million (£42.3m). How is this guy walking around there?”.

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner also took Marcus Rashford and Casemiro to task, stating: “Name me one top player at Manchester United? At every club you see a top player. (Marcus) Rashford is very bad.

“Bruno Fernandes is a good player, (Andre) Onana is a good goalkeeper. That’s it. Casemiro is done. (Alejandro) Garnacho is a decent player. But nobody carries that team.”

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Ten Hag, Fernandes taken to task over Man Utd failings

Van Basten is one of a number of former players and pundits who have taken United to task since Sunday’s debacle as the vultures continue to circle around Ten Hag. Indeed, it’s understood that the Dutchman’s current assistant Ruud van Nistelrooy is now primed to take over on an interim basis.

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Despite Ten Hag seemingly taking the brunt of the criticism, Fernandes has also been singled out for a lack of leadership having been made United skipper at the start of last season. He saw red in the loss against Spurs but that has since been overturned, meaning he no longer faces a ban.

Indeed, former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Petit told Bet Brain: “Bruno Fernandes is a good player, but he’s not a top player for me. I never see him performing against top teams for Manchester United or Portugal.

“He’ll pick up goals and assists against average teams because he’s got good vision and shooting ability, but mentally and physically he just isn’t there when a challenging game arrives. We saw that against Tottenham – again, he was not there at all.

“Fernandes is not the leader that Manchester United need on the pitch. I agree that the sending off was a little bit harsh, but you need leaders and players to show others how to act. He occasionally does that against lesser teams, but I never see it against the top teams.

“Even before he was sent off, he was always complaining and throwing his arms about. Something has to change.”

The ‘what might have been’ Mbappe deal as Man Utd also eye Wharton 

In other United news, TEAMtalk have been informed of the expansive plans proposed by the Qatari group who pushed to purchase the club over the summer before losing out to Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Sources have told us the Qataris were keen to bring Kylian Mbappe to Old Trafford as the view was he is the best player on the planet and they could have convinced him to move to the EPL. Sources said he would have been the highest-ever paid Premier League footballer.

Ten Hag would also almost certainly have been replaced, with a France great Zinedine Zidane a serious consideration to replace him.

Meanwhile, TT can also reveeal that United are planning to push Christian Eriksen out as they make room for a stunning raid on Crystal Palace for Adam Wharton.

Ratcliffe and sporting director Dan Ashworth have been clear they want to see the best British talent at United and midfielder Wharton has caught the eye of recruiters at Old Trafford with his brilliant performances for Palace.

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