Ten Hag insists Man Utd have plenty to play for after European exit
Scott McTominay has confirmed that Roy Keane’s worst fears about the Manchester United dressing room were true under previous managers. McTominay, who has been a surprise Premier League scoring package with five goals this season, shed light on what used to be a ‘toxic’ environment at Old Trafford while throwing his weight behind current boss Erik ten Hag.
The Scotland international broke into United’s senior ranks under Jose Mourinho before going on to play under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and interim boss Ralf Rangnick. Now it’s Ten Hag at the helm, and the Dutchman’s reign is on the rocks after a turbulent start to the season.
McTominay insists that he still has the support of senior figures in the dressing room, despite overseeing a defeat against Bayern Munich on Tuesday night which ended United’s European hopes for another campaign.
And in backing Ten Hag, the 27-year-old revealed that the dressing room had not always been a harmonious place before the Ajax manager’s appointment.
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“Right now we are at the stage where we have big characters in the dressing room,” he said ahead of the Bayern clash. “It’s not just a case like [under] some of the other managers, where it has been a little bit toxic at times. The boys are firmly behind the manager.
“I’ve said that in many other interviews and that is the way it will stay. We’ve got an amazing coaching staff as well, so it can get lost in translation with what the players think and what is said behind closed doors. But we just want to do well for the football club.”
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Keane, who made almost 500 first-team appearances for the Red Devils, spoke about the dangers of a wayward dressing room back in 2022. “If you haven’t got a decent dressing room, forget about it, you’re in trouble anywhere,” he told Sky Sports before Ten Hag was appointed.
“We’ve seen with Man United, when things go against them, that’s it, they almost throw the towel in. It’s a bad reflection of senior players at the club. Young players getting carried away and thinking they’re players. A bad dressing room, forget about it, you’ve got no chance.”
Keane’s warning hasn’t stopped Ten Hag throwing caution to the wind when managing his big-name players. An early course of action from the 53-year-old was to effectively force Cristiano Ronaldo out of the club.
His heavy-handed approach has spilled over into this season, too, with Jadon Sancho banished from the first team and Raphael Varane frozen out of the starting XI due to strained relationships.
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