Daily Times

Erik ten Hag took responsibility for Manchester United’s miserable showing in a 4-0 thrashing by Crystal Palace on Monday, but said he is still the right man to turn the club’s fortunes around.

Palace completed a first ever league double over United in style as Michael Olise scored twice, while Jean-Philippe Mateta and Tyrick Mitchell were also on target for the in-form Eagles. Defeat left Ten Hag’s men eighth and at risk of both their worst ever Premier League finish and missing out on European competition next season.

The Dutchman’s future is in doubt with structural change ongoing at Old Trafford since British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe bought a minority stake and took sporting control of the club earlier this year. “It’s clear and it’s obvious this is under-performing,” said Ten Hag. “We didn’t act how we want to do it and this is by far not good enough.”

Ten Hag’s options were again limited by a mounting injury list. Captain Bruno Fernandes missed a club game through injury for the first time in his career, while England international duo Marcus Rashford and Harry Maguire were also absent. The makeshift centre-back pairing of Casemiro and Jonny Evans were torn apart by Palace’s pace and invention. “Absolutely,” added Ten Hag on whether believes he is the right man to lead United forward. “If we have the right players available we have a good squad but we miss almost the whole back-line and then we have problems.