Paul Merson destroys Man Utd summer signing and names classy Tottenham man they had to sign instead

Manchester United are heading nowhere as a club, with Paul Merson fearing their woeful decisions on the transfer front are undermining Erik ten Hag and with the Sky Sports pundit naming the Tottenham star the Red Devils made a serious mistake not signing.

It’s gone from bad to worse for Manchester United this season with a 3-0 home loss to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup proving to be their eighth loss in 15 games this season. That makes it their worst start to a season since 1962/63 – an incredible 51 years – and compounds the pressure that is building on Erik ten Hag.

Indeed, the Dutchman came out fighting at full-time, accepting that results are not good enough but also in the belief that he remains the right man to turn their fortunes around. He now faces a crucial week that will see them take on Fulham away in the Premier League before a trip to face FC Copenhagen in the Champions League. Both games will need to be filed under ‘must-win’ and Gary Neville has urged Ten Hag to shake up his team with a radical new tactic after admitting for the first time the Dutchman is in danger of the sack.

Touching upon their struggles, Neville feels poor recruitment over the years is coming home to roost at Old Trafford.

“The failings of the football department and recruitment is just absolutely incredible,” Neville stated, having turned his anger on Anthony Martial.

“Look, they’re human beings at the end of the day and Martial, no one wants to go on the pitch and play badly or not achieve their standards. Nobody wants to be injured.”

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Paul Merson hits out at Man Utd failure to sign Micky van de Ven

Neville continued: “So I accept all those factors, but the reality is there is no way he should still be at Man United leading the line in any competition, even the Carabao Cup.

“It’s just where the club is at the moment, they don’t have a centre forward apart from [Rasmus] Hojlund who I think has real promise but he needs some experience up alongside him.”

It’s not just in attack where United are struggling, however. Six goals conceded in the last two games, means they have now let in a worrying 26 goals in 15 matches so far this season.

Defensively, the club also looks all over the place, and has been forced to call upon veteran star Jonny Evans in recent matches. At 35, Evans was a free agent this summer yet found himself back at Manchester United following Leicester’s relegation from the Premier League.

And Merson, while stating he has nothing personal against the Northern Ireland international, thinks his signing sums up their poor recruitment.

Furthermore, pointing to Tottenham’s initial €40m (£34.4m) signing of Micky van de Ven, he feels United’s recruitment team have badly missed a trick.

Providing an insight in United’s failing strategy, Merson asked on Sky Sports: “Why is he at Tottenham and Man Utd have not got a centre-half?

“No disrespect to Evans  – and I like Evans – but they are playing a thirty-odd year old, next to [Harry] Maguire and [Raphael] Varane can’t get fit and [Victor] Lindelof, who I don’t think is a real centre-half if I’m being honest – I wouldn’t mind him marking me – and then you’re looking at this player [Van de Ven] who is one of the best centre-halves in the league at the moment….”

Ten Hag ‘does not motivate players’

Merson concluded: “And you’re thinking, ‘why’s he not playing for Man Utd’? He wasn’t £80m or £90m this guy, you know seriously… Ten Hag is a Dutchman, why has he not highlighted him [his fellow countryman] as a primary target?”

His fellow Sky Sports pundit Jamie Mackie reckons Ten Hag does not inspire great results from his players and is not a manager you would run through brick walls for.

“What are they going to do though, just bin him off? They can’t… but you have to invest time with him but I don’t know if that is the right thing.”

Mackie added: “Do players want to play for Ten Hag? I look at [Ange] Postecoglou.. great guy, I’d love to have played for him. Same with Mikel Arteta, he’s intense but he motivates players, just like Pep [Guardiola] does. Can we say the same for Ten Hag?”

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