Man Utd news: Erik ten Hag analysis from Jesper Blomqvist

Giving Erik ten Hag more time before sacking him is a “double fault” from Manchester United’s owners and leaves them “even more behind” – that is the view of former United midfielder and 1999 Treble winner Jesper Blomqvist.

There had been reports that the club’s ownership had looked at potential replacements for Ten Hag in the summer before deciding to stick with the Dutchman.

A difficult start to the season, however, saw the 54-year-old sacked on Monday following a 2-1 defeat by West Ham in the Premier League on Sunday.

“Not a big surprise [he has gone] but it should have been done in the summer,” said Blomqvist on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“Now it became a double fault from Ineos, and the directors, giving him more time [after] they bought his players and everything and then still sacked him a couple of months later.

“Now they’re really even more behind and they’ve got a squad of players that maybe will be hard for the next manager to find the right place for.”

Ex-United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has been placed in caretaker charge, but reports suggest that current Sporting Lisbon boss Ruben Amorim is the long-term target.

Blomqvist feels that whoever comes in next, the job will be “even harder” for them now they are part way through the season.

“It always makes it much harder to implement [your style],” he said. “You don’t have any time at all to implement your tactics and you’re straight into the lion’s den.

“It will be really tough for the new manager to come in and change things. On the other hand, it has been quite bad results so the possibility of making it better is quite good anyway – lots of room for improvement.”