Manchester United managers of past and present have had to deal with similar issues as Erik ten Hag is believed to be growing frustrated by agent briefings this season
It has been a miserable season for Manchester United on the pitch, but manager Erik ten Hag is not short of headaches off of it either.
The Dutchman is believed to be growing tired of having to put up with agent briefings that are causing disruptions within the squad while also undermining his own position. Ten Hag is not the first United boss to have to deal with such a problem, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer also faced with the issue during his time at the helm.
According to the Athletic, several representatives who United players as clients are deliberately trying to stoke up an anti-Ten Hag narrative to try and justify some dismal displays so far this season. Solskjaer actually addressed the issue in September of last year.
He told the aforementioned outlet about his talk with successor Ralf Rangnick regarding the state of the squad he was leaving behind, claiming: “I told him when I gave my opinion on every player that things had gone sour.
“The collective had been lost and that’s not Man United, where teams are built on collective. Some players felt they should have played more and weren’t constructive to the environment, That’s a huge sin for me. When I didn’t start games I wanted to prove to the manager he’d made the wrong decision.
“Now, a lot of players aren’t like that. Agents and family members get into their heads and tell them they are better than they are because they have a vested interest. It’s a disease of modern football.”
Given the fact that the Premier League giants have lost more games than they have won across all competitions, the pressure is mounting on Ten Hag to turn the tide quickly or risk losing his job altogether.
Monday night presents a potential banana peel for United, who traveled to Wigan in the third round of the FA Cup. Defeat at the DW will all but end the club’s hopes of any form of silverware this season and place Ten Hag’s job under further scrutiny.
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