Erik ten Hag has something up his sleeve for Ineos decision on Manchester United manager

Manchester United crashed out of European competition before Christmas, they have exited the Carabao Cup and currently sit eight points adrift of the Premier League top four.

This season has been disappointing and the pressure has increased on Erik ten Hag's position each month, although there was no case to sack him with the ownership remaining the same.

That has changed now, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe assuming control of football operations, which means it feels like Ten Hag is doing his probation period again.

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Ten Hag is expected to have until the end of the season to prove to INEOS that he's the right man to take the club forward, so results must improve from now until the summer.

United are about to have a fully fit squad and there will be no more excuses for poor results. There also needs to be progress made regarding the style of play.

Although Tottenham drew with United last weekend, they controlled the game and deserved to win, even without their best players available.

Son Heung-min, James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma and Pape Matar Sarr were absent, but Spurs stuck by the principles drilled into them by Ange Postecoglou.

Ten Hag must show fans United are working toward achieving a distinguishable style of play and INEOS will be carefully taking stock of his every decision in the next few months.

There will be a decision to be made on Ten Hag but there are also huge positives to his time at Old Trafford, like his excellent first season and his record of giving young players a chance.

INEOS' record with Nice shows they place great importance on giving young talent