Louis Saha Exclusive: Ten Hag should put ego aside instead of seeking revenge with Sancho
Louis Saha spoke to BettingOdds.com yesterday to discuss Manchester United after their 3-0 defeat in the derby on Sunday. The ex-United striker criticised Erik ten Hag for the club’s recent performances as well as the Dutchman’s treatment of Jadon Sancho. He also spoke about the issues surrounding the form of Mason Mount, Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes, and warned United against re-signing David De Gea.
"What are your thoughts on the Manchester derby and just how bad of a result for United was that?"
Losing the derby you can accept in some way given how good Manchester City are but it’s more about the performance. The gap is so big between the two teams and I felt really annoyed watching Manchester United on Sunday. United didn’t impose themselves on the game and they clearly lack the mental toughness and the experience to perform in games like this. In midfield, there is no creativity and they make bad choices and up front they are not clinical enough with Hojlund missing good chances. It was really difficult to watch.
"The crowd booed a lot of ten Hag’s decisions yesterday, has he lost the crowd and what needs to be done by the manager to fix United’s issues at the moment?"
There is definitely a sense that the fans are losing belief at United. The fans expect you to show fight and they need to see you challenge in games like this. We didn’t see the energy or the aggression required to compete in a derby game and they lacked spirit. That falls on the manager and the fans made sure that was understood. The players need to understand it’s not good enough. Ten Hag needs to be bold but sometimes recognise his own mistakes and admit to them. His decisions have an impact and he got some wrong against City and he should be criticised for that.
"After the game, Roy Keane said Bruno Fernandes is the ‘last thing he’d want as captain’ of Manchester United and that he should have the captaincy taken away. Do you agree and what do you think Bruno needs to do to improve as a leader?"
That is Roy’s opinion, he knows what it takes to captain Manchester United and he had a certain style of doing that. The issue at United is there are not many leaders at the club so ten Hag went with his most reliable player in Fernandes, but sometimes he can have an attitude and that is what Roy is referring to. If the leadership within the team isn’t right, it is difficult for the players to perform, but it also comes from the manager to tell the players what the plan is and what each individual player has to deliver in the game so everyone knows their job and their responsibility. At the moment, it is hard to see what the plan is at United and that is a huge issue.
Roy Keane was a tremendous player and leader at United, and he wasn’t the kind of player who made many mistakes, so I can understand his worries about the captaincy, but there isn’t many options at the club. There are so many issues at Manchester United and captaincy is maybe one but for sure not the main problem facing them at the moment.
"So what do you think is the main problem then?"
The main problem at United is they are lacking the spirit and confidence that they showed last year and they need to find that again soon. Everyone had to prove a point last year with the new manager and a new era starting, but I get the sense that they have lost that. At the end of the day, it’s all about results and we’re seeing the same thing every week. They are losing too many games and not playing well enough. They need to find a plan that works for them and show more aggression and confidence both with and without the ball. It’s difficult to point to the main problem because there are so many at the club, it’s a combination of issues that has led to these performances.
"Marcus Rashford put in another poor performance yesterday, what advice would you give him to help him get back to his best?"
It feels like Marcus Rashford is best when he feels like he has some to prove. it looks like he isn’t enjoying his game at the moment and I don’t know why, it’s really strange. There are a large group of players at United that look like they lacking passion at the moment and Marcus is one of them. When I compare it to my era, there were 10-15 players in the United squad who were absolutely obsessed with winning. Rooney, Ronaldo, Vidic, Tevez, Evra, Ferdinand and Scholes to name a few were all absolutely obsessed. You could feel this when you were on the pitch with them and in the current squad there is an imbalance - there aren’t enough players with this mentality. The fans want to see that the players are desperate to win and perform well and right now I don’t see that at all.
"Onana made a match-saving penalty against Copenhagen and made a series of saves that saved the result being far worse for United yesterday - Do you think this could be a season-defining moment for him and now he can really kick on and prove his worth?"
Onana put in a good performance against City but you have to say a lot of the saves he made were ones you’d expect any good keeper to make. I expect even more from Onana and I hope this performance can help him push on. He still conceded three goals and he needs more help from the defence. There’s still a lot of work to do, but it is good to see he is making those saves he is expected to make.
"David De Gea has been linked with a return to United on a short-term contract while Onana is away at AFCON. Do you think this would be a good move?"
Bringing back De Gea would be a really bold move and it could be very awkward. I question the management here - why would they let De Gea go if they want him back a few months later? It’s a strange move for me and you have to move on. They bought two new goalkeepers in the summer and now if they bring De Gea back it suggests that they regret that decision already
"Is Rasmus Hojlund’s lack of goals and his performances this season a concern?"
I am not concerned about Hojlund yet. We knew when he signed that he wasn’t the finished product yet, and he is one of the few players really showing fight at the moment. You can see in the way he plays he is aggressive, wants to score goals and help the team. He just lacks experience, similar to when I joined Manchester United but the difference is I had senior players like Van Nistelrooy to help me and show me how to perform for United, whereas Hojlund doesn’t have that at all. If he had some support from a senior striker, he would have less pressure on his shoulders and he wouldn’t be expected to perform straight away. We are asking too much from Hojlund at the moment and it isn’t fair on him at all. This is why I wanted Harry Kane at United, someone who could take responsibility and perform from the first game.
"It’s been revealed that Jadon Sancho has even been banned from eating lunch with his teammates and is being given lunch in a lunchbox away from the players - do you think this is fair treatment and could it have been handled differently by ten Hag?"
The Sancho situation could have been handled better for sure. Of course, Sancho has responsibility but the manager does too and he needs to help him. Everyone is losing in this current situation and ten Hag has to put his ego aside now. This treatment is not right, it looks like the manager is trying to get revenge to show he has the power. If you want big stars playing for you at United, you have to help them express their personality. When they make mistakes, you have to give them a platform to say sorry instead of treating them so harshly. Jadon is a great player and of course, he has made mistakes and hasn’t performed, but now the manager has the responsibility to help him fix this.
"How do you rate Mason Mount’s impact so far this season? He’s struggled for form and fitness and now McTominay seems to have taken his place in the side and why ten Hag isn’t playing him?"
I’ve seen moments this season where Mason Mount isn’t even asking for the ball. It’s very shocking for me to see a player with that type of quality shying away from taking responsibility. He is too good of a player to play like this, to not show a willingness to get the ball and make a difference and it is not on. He has so much quality, but at the moment he doesn’t seem to have any faith in himself. He needs to show courage and commitment and I am really unimpressed with Mason Mount at the moment. He has lost the keys to create damage to his opponents and to change games from midfield. He’s going whole games where he is barely touching the ball, it’s really strange.
"Your old strike partner Wayne Rooney started as Birmingham manager recently. Did you always believe he would be a top manager when you shared a dressing room with him and how do you think he’ll get on?"
He’s obsessed with football and has such a good understanding of the game. Even when he was young he would help teammates by discussing different movements and techniques with them. To be a great manager, you need to be able to make players play at 100% of their potential and he can do that. I’m sure he’s going to do well at Birmingham despite the tough start he’s had.
"How can you describe Bobby Charlton and the impact he had on Manchester United?"
I’ve been feeling really sad about losing Sir Bobby because he did so much for Manchester United. Not just as a player, but as an ambassador for the club. He was always about respect, he would speak to us like normal human beings and even when we were not playing so well he would be supportive. He taught us how to represent Manchester United, the personality you need to have and how to respect the history of the club. I want to offer my condolences to his family and the world of football. It’s not just Manchester United and England that have lost a legend, it’s the world of football because he was a legend of the game.
