Why Alan Shearer has sympathy for Erik ten Hag despite Man United FA Cup row

Premier League and Newcastle legend Alan Shearer has admitted that the Manchester United players bear some responsibility for Erik ten Hag's departure this week.

Shearer and Ten Hag have found themselves at loggerheads ever since their heated confrontation following the FA Cup final victory over Manchester City. During his interview with the BBC, Ten Hag accused pundits of treating himself and the United squad 'unfairly' to which Shearer retorted that the performance against City was the exception rather than the rule for the Reds last season.

Ten Hag went on to blame injuries for disrupting United's flow, which, in hindsight, would become a running theme heading into this season. Despite this clear difference of opinion on national TV, Shearer told Betfair that the Dutchman was not solely responsible for his demise.

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"There’s no doubt that some players have let Erik ten Hag down," Shearer explained. "If everyone had played to their ability, then perhaps Ten Hag wouldn't have been under such immense pressure.

"Having said that, he's been at Man United for over two years now, and I know he won the League Cup and FA Cup, but the shift we were expecting after that FA Cup final display has not happened. That performance vs Man City was supposed to be the benchmark going forward but they have reached nowhere near that level since.

"I haven’t seen what format they want to be playing, what identity they have, and, for some players, that probably caused a level of uncertainty, but there are others that could have done a lot better too. Man United have paid a lot of money for a lot of players during his time, and