Louis Saha: ‘Erik ten Hag’s position could become untenable with a defeat to Southampton’

After a crushing 3-0 defeat to bitter rivals Liverpool before the international break, Erik ten Hag’s position as Manchester United could become “untenable” with a defeat to Southampton this weekend, according to club legend Louis Saha. In an exclusive interview with Betfred, Saha tells his former club’s fans what they need to do if they want to see the best of Marcus Rashford, why we could see Cristiano Ronaldo at the 2026 World Cup and why Manchester United shouldn’t consider the free signing of Adrien Rabiot.

Do you believe Erik ten Hag’s position as Manchester United manager could become untenable with a defeat against Southampton on Saturday?

“I think so. Against Liverpool, the issue was the performance rather than just the result, so Erik’s under pressure because the team isn’t playing well. There were no signs during the game that things were going to be fixed. On Saturday, if Southampton are able to dominate against Manchester United in the same way that Liverpool dominated last week, then the situation would be untenable for Erik ten Hag.”

Do you believe Erik ten Hag has already proven at Manchester United that he can be tactically versatile?

“You need to find different ways to beat the best sides and that’s something that every manager needs to do, but at the same time your philosophy really has to always be in line with a foundation that the players can really understand, know what the manager is asking of them and know what the needs are during the game. 

“There’s a lot of people in punditry and the media, as well as the fans, who are seeing things that they can’t understand when they watch Manchester United at the moment. We saw Arne Slot and Liverpool destroy the tactics of Erik ten Hag in their last game. At this moment, it’s not about personalities, it’s about seeing a plan that the players can identify with and cause damage with. Sometimes we see players play as individuals or not being able to respond correctly but at the moment, the problem is the game plan. Currently, we can’t identify a clear game plan and that’s why Erik’s being criticised. Things need to improve.”

How desperately do you believe Manchester United needs Rasmus Højlund to return from injury? Do you believe that Manchester United look like a team that is struggling for goals at this moment in time?

“I don’t believe it’s desperately needed. We could have won against Brighton a few weeks ago and they had a second goal ruled out when [Joshua] Zirkzee being offside prevented [Alejandro] Garnacho from scoring. Overall, the performance was good. Even against Liverpool, Zirkzee had his chances and he was quite unlucky. They were okay when it came to creating chances, so I’m not too concerned about a lack of goals. 

“Rasmus is possibly a better finisher and more clinical than what we have currently, but last year he wasn’t as evolved as we would have liked and I’m sure he would have wanted more opportunities to score goals. He gets himself in the right spots, so it’s just a matter of time before he gets the goals.” 

Do you believe Manchester United’s fans need to be more supportive of Marcus Rashford?

“The fans really want him to do better, but they’re aware that the player looks as if he’s suffering. He’s not a player that’s all smiley like Paul Pogba who got a lot of criticism, but was still able to enjoy his life. We don’t see this happiness in the face of Marcus Rashford. If proper Manchester United fans want Marcus to play better, then they must know that being on his back all the time isn’t going to help. They need to make a choice. Marcus has been loyal to the club and it seems like all the criticism isn’t helping him, so the fans need to reevaluate how they communicate with him. Marcus also needs to realise that he needs to do better too.

“I thought against Liverpool that Marcus was doing enough and in my view, I still believe he’s a bigger solution than Alejandro Garnacho at this moment in time. If this guy is fit and playing with confidence, then he’s a bigger danger than any other player in the squad. If he’s playing at 100%, he’s got more potential to score 30 goals in a season than any other player we have and he’s the only individual in that team that’s capable of being unplayable.”

Do you believe Kobbie Mainoo is being relied upon too much for Manchester United?

“Yes. I’m a big fan of Kobbie, but he’s still very young. He needs time to learn the game and impose a different kind of tempo because sometimes he looks too comfortable on the ball and doesn’t provide that unpredictability that’s needed. We need a change of tempo in that midfield and I don’t think Kobbie’s as capable of doing this as we’d like. 

“Towards the end of his career, Paul Scholes dropped deeper into the midfield, but he was still a threat going forward. At this moment in time, this is the type of player we need. Kobbie doesn’t have that stability in the midfield, so it’s a big ask to rely upon him so much. Casemiro’s also been asked to play a different role too, so the stability in that area is an issue. As Kobbie’s so young, he’s going to make mistakes and we saw that against Liverpool.”

Was there any player, in your opinion, that you believe Manchester United missed out on during the summer?

“Before the Euros, I would have wanted Manchester United to sign Dani Olmo. He’s now a Barcelona player but as a number ten, he would have filled a position that we need. He’s in a similar bracket to Bruno Fernandes and he’s a player that’s capable of playing in midfield and providing that stability we need when we defend, but at the same time is capable of being a threat every time we go forward. This is a big miss for Manchester United because they’ve let Jadon Sancho go and I don’t believe Manuel Ugarte is capable of doing what Olmo can. He would have been the perfect option for the club to complete their midfield. It’s an opportunity missed.

“Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen could have been an alternative option because he’s a very clever boy with a big, big engine. These are the types of players we need.”

Adrien Rabiot is still without a club as a free agent. He’s been linked with Manchester United previously and considering their issues in midfield, do you believe they should consider signing the midfielder at this moment in time?

“I don’t think so, no. I don’t believe he fits the profile of player that we need at the moment. We’ve just signed Ugarte and we also have Casemiro and Kobbie Mainoo, so we already have number 6s and 8s in the squad. We’ve let Scott McTominay go, who was a big threat going forward, but I don’t believe Adrien is the type of player that’s going to help the forwards to score goals. He’s got a big engine and a huge amount of experience but we’ve just signed Ugarte, so even though I really like Adrien as a player, the move doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t believe the club needs to concentrate on signing another player in that position.”

The Express have reported that Manchester United are interested in a £30 million move for Fulham’s Antonee Robinson. Do you believe Antonee is ready for the step up?

“He’s a good player, there’s no doubt about that, and there’s always that next step, which I’m sure he’ll consider when he’s ready. Antonee already knows the Premier League, so it would be easy for him in a certain way to adapt. I see Luke Shaw as a top, top left-back and I know he’s been injured a lot lately, so that move would make sense. However, I believe the club needs to look at things step-by-step at this moment in time and I don’t believe left-back is the primary position for them to prioritise currently in regards to incomings.”

Tabloid speculation suggests that Sean Dyche could be facing the sack at Everton. A return for David Moyes has been previously suggested and in your opinion, do you believe your former manager returning to Goodison Park would be a good option for the club?

“It could work. I’m sure every fan of the club will look back in time to when David was there and have fond memories and respect the work he did. However, I don’t believe this will happen because it’s so difficult to understand what’s going on at the club currently. Sean Dyche has done a very good job and has been let down by his players too many times. I’m not saying that he hasn’t made mistakes, but we see players making individual error after individual error more often than Sean being tactically wrong. I’m sure David Moyes has plenty of respect for the club and Sean Dyche and I don’t believe these rumours are helpful.”

Newcastle United reportedly had a bid rejected for Nottingham Forest’s Anthony Elanga on deadline day. Do you believe this is a move your former club should revisit in January and do you believe Anthony would be a wonderful signing for them?

“I think so. Anthony’s a good player and I’m sure Newcastle United have watched him a lot and see somebody that works really hard and is playing with more confidence than he had at Manchester United. You can now count Newcastle United as a big team and I think they will provide a challenge for Anthony to maintain this level and improve. He can score goals and provide them too and he showed this in a Forest team that were struggling at times last season.”

Do you believe Newcastle missed their perfect opportunity to sign Marc Guéhi this summer? Do you believe Marc is going to have even more suitors next year if he only has one year remaining on his deal at the end of the season? 

“He had a fantastic Euros and this season he’s going to aim to continue to prove a point about how good he really is. More suitors are going to come and knock on the door so yes, Newcastle could have missed the opportunity to have a really good defender in Marc. Things in football can change within a few weeks, so it could definitely change in a few months. I’m sure he’s going to have a lot of admirers from the Euros alone, so the hope for him is to remain consistent and then he’ll have more options at the table. Newcastle is definitely a club with great stability and I like the structure they’re putting in place.”

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 900th and 901st career goals during the international break. Before that he was quoted saying, “When the time comes, I'll move on.” This was in regards to retiring from the Portuguese national team, but do you believe deep down that Cristiano will be representing his country at the World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026 and do you believe he will reach 1000 career goals?

“I wish the best for Cristiano. He has a vision and he’s an inspiration for any kid. You need to understand, if you score 300 goals in your career then that means you’re a top, top goalscorer, so for him to hit 900 is unbelievable. Kylian Mbappé currently has just under 350 to his name and that’s also unbelievable. To Cristiano, 900 goals means a lot and every time he scores goals, it’s like he’s won the World Cup. The guy is just obsessed with contributing to his team and whatever he aims to do, he’ll do whatever he can to achieve it. If he feels as if he needs to go to the World Cup in 2026 and win it, then that’s what he’ll try and do and the tournament is not too far away.

“I could wish for him to score 1000 goals or even 1100 goals because Cristiano deserves all the respect and everyone that follows the sport should want this guy to fulfil his dreams because for kids wanting to be athletes, he’s the biggest inspiration you can have. 900 goals is a massive achievement already and what he’s done is unbelievable.”

Who do you believe will win the Premier League title this season?

“Manchester City. They have the stability, world-class players that continue to improve and they always want more. When I see Erling Haaland playing the way he’s playing at the moment, it’s very scary for the rest of the Premier League. They’ll have opposition in both Arsenal and Liverpool but at the end of the day, this is the team that’s most capable of winning the Premier League.”