Gary Neville on Erik ten Hag: It Will Takes Years to Rebuild and Challenge for Trophies

Former United player Gary Neville and Sky Sports commentator said that the new interim boss won't be under pressure to win trophies for at least three years, which implies the level of rebuilding he is expected to do. The Ajax boss was named as United's new manager on Thursday and the sixth-placed United are currently recovering from a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool. 

Neville Points Out the Possible Stakes

"What we're seeing at this current moment is unacceptable," Neville stated. "That needs to be dealt with initially and Ten Hag has got a big job to get the club back up to those minimum standards that they need to achieve, which is the attitude, work ethic, belief, confidence and then hopefully you start to think about winning trophies. But honestly, I wouldn't be putting too much pressure on Ten Hag in the first one or two years to win a trophy at the club. It would be great if he did and he'd be overachieving, in my opinion."

Neville continued, "It will be: get into the top four, re-establish Man Utd in the Champions League, attract the players into the club who can play in the way he wants to play, and then get a system of belief." Manchester United players are thriving on low spirits after going 2-0 down at Anfield.

Neville fears that the aftermath of these match results comprising of just four wins in their last 14 matches could affect the players' careers. "The players have completely lost their confidence and belief," remarked Neville. "They don't want to play football for Manchester United at this moment in time."

Neville Discloses What Needs to be Fixed

"I want to be careful in saying there's long-lasting damage but the mental impact of what's happening at the club in this moment in time, with the types of defeats they're suffering, the type of criticism they're getting, the fans booing them, that's going to have a long-lasting impact on some of those lads to the point where Ten Hag will have to make a decision whether he can recover it - and with some of them he may not be able to," the Sports Star commentator said. 

"There's a big job to do in many different aspects. The first job is to decide who he wants to keep that's currently there and then he's got to decide who he wants to get in with him to make sure that confidence, that belief, that spirit in the dressing room can start to rise," the 47-year-old continued. Neville hopes to see current boss Rangnick provide his views on who should stay and who should leave the club. "Recruitment is the most important job in a football club," he said. "If you get the players wrong, you're struggling." With immense responsibility on his shoulder, Erik ten Hag will join the club this summer.