United owners arrive in UK as pressure grows on Ten Hag

MANCHESTER, England — Manchester United co-owners Joel Glazer and Jim Ratcliffe were at the club's Old Trafford stadium on Monday, as manager Erik ten Hag's position falls under intense scrutiny.

Ratcliffe watched the team's 0-0 draw at Aston Villa on Sunday, which consigned the 20-time English champion to its worst start to a season in the Premier League era. For Glazer, it was a rare sighting of him in Manchester since his late father, Malcolm, bought the club in 2005.

A video of Ratcliffe and Glazer entering Old Trafford began to circulate on social media on Monday. United said their visit had long-been planned, with meetings in Manchester and London scheduled for this week.

Glazer will also attend a quarterly Fans Advisory Board meeting.

British billionaire Ratcliffe bought a minority 27.7 percent stake in United in February, and has since overhauled its soccer operations. On Friday he declined to publicly support Ten Hag when questioned about the manager's future.

Ten Hag has faced repeated questions about his future after three defeats in the first seven league games of the season.

United is 14th in the standings, and its return of eight points is the lowest at this stage of a campaign since 1989-90, when it managed just seven.

The Premier League was launched in 1992 when former manager Alex Ferguson won the first of his 13 titles with United.

Ten Hag is the club's fifth permanent manager since Ferguson retired in 2013.

There was speculation about his position at the end of last season, when he led United to its worst league campaign in 34 years. But, he kept his job after winning the FA Cup and surviving an extensive end-of-year review.

New CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth last month said that the manager had their full backing, but Ratcliffe, who assumed control of United's soccer operations following his $1.3 billion investment, declined to do the same when asked on Friday if he had faith in Ten Hag.

"I don't want to answer that question," he told the BBC. "I like Erik. I think he's a very good coach, but at the end of the day it's not my call, it's the management team that's running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects."

Battling to improve

Jonny Evans says United's players are sticking together and fighting hard to pull themselves out of a slump that has led to feverish speculation over Ten Hag's future.

Sunday's battling draw at high-flying Aston Villa meant the Red Devils stumbled into the international break without a win in five matches across all competitions.

Despite the team's struggles, Ten Hag still believes he has the backing of the club hierarchy.

Experienced centerback Evans, a surprise starter on Sunday, admitted that the speculation "does affect the players", but underlined the importance of unity.

"As a player you know what you've got to do," the 36-year-old academy graduate said after Sunday's draw. "We've all been playing football for a long time.

"For us, it's about not giving in, sticking together. My experience is that you always show that on the pitch, and it was pleasing we did that today."

The stalemate at Villa Park came a week after an alarming 3-0 home collapse to Tottenham.

Days later, in the Europa League, the team blew a two-goal lead at Porto, before scraping a 3-3 draw.

United showed spirit to level at the death in Portugal, and its togetherness was visible in Birmingham, both during the game and during a pre-match huddle.

"I don't know who organized that," said former Northern Ireland international Evans.

"It wasn't planned so I'm guessing it was (captain) Bruno (Fernandes).

"I'm sure Bruno, if he organized it, it was a way to get a message across before we went on the pitch. I've been involved in huddles in the past and it's a way to come together before you go out and play."

United tightened up defensively at Villa Park, but it looked toothless in attack.

Only promoted Southampton has found the net on fewer occasions than United in the Premier League so far.

"We put a lot into our defending today," Evans said when asked about the team's feeble five-goal return.

"We saw our two forwards working back and helping the team. In order to get that clean sheet, you're going to maybe sacrifice a bit. For us it's finding that balance.

"The confidence we get from that clean sheet, hopefully, in turn, that can give us the belief when we're going forward."

"Sometimes you have to do that, grind it out, go back to basics, and we did that today."

Agencies