Erik ten Hag might regret not taking Ange Postecoglou advice for Manchester United this weekend

Erik ten Hag might feel another set of eyes on him at Old Trafford this weekend when Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes his seat in the directors' box for the first time since INEOS agreed a deal to become minority owners of Manchester United. Ratcliffe and Ten Hag met at Carrington last week and had a productive discussion, along with INEOS' head of sport Sir Dave Brailsford, but as much as they might have discussed a vision for the future, the predicament Ten Hag currently finds himself in is inescapable.

We are in mid-January and this is still a United team that has lost more games than it has won in 2023/24. They are closer to 13th than they are to fourth. Yes, Ten Hag has had injuries to deal with, but some of the criticism levelled at the manager has been increasingly fair this season.

One of those is that 91 games into his reign at Old Trafford, there is no discernible style of play or overarching philosophy. United's success last season was built on an excellent defence and an in-form Marcus Rashford, but tactically this is a side that hasn't progressed this term.

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And those criticisms have only been accentuated by the impact of his opposite number this weekend. Ange Postecoglou has taken charge of 22 Tottenham games but this is unmistakably his side. It has been a team playing in the Aussie's image since the very first game of the season.

That style has been maintained despite injury issues of his own. Tottenham have been without Micky van de Ven and James Maddison for a couple of months, two of their most important players, while Christian Romero has missed games through suspension and