Former Man Utd defender Paul Parker has concerns that the Red Devils’ season could now “end up as an embarrassment for the players”.
The Red Devils are on course for a successful first season under Erik ten Hag with Man Utd guaranteed a place in the Champions League if they win two of their remaining Premier League matches, while they have won the Carabao Cup and are in the final of the FA Cup.
However, there is a fine line between success and failure with Liverpool just one point behind them in the Premier League after their 3-0 victory over Leicester City on Monday night.
Man Utd, , have three Premier League matches remaining against Bournemouth, Chelsea and Fulham and Parker reckons missing out on the top four and losing the FA Cup final would represent a poor season for Man Utd.
Parker told indiabetting: “I think it would be a major disappointment for the club to miss out on the top four. But I think it will affect Erik ten Hag even more if he is anything that I suspect that he is. He seems ambitious and to achieve Champions League football would be amazing.
“Right now, we can’t say that the manager has achieved great things. The trophy itself in the Carabao Cup doesn’t mean much to the club to be perfectly honest. I also don’t think that he cares about that, he is bigger than that trophy.
“Erik ten Hag will be more disappointed than the players, especially because I personally don’t think it will bother the players that much. But from a club point of view, the financial aspect and so on it will be a major disappointment.”
And Parker feels the players “have lost” that initial energy they gained from the appointment of Ten Hag over the summer.
The former full-back added: “I definitely don’t feel that this Man United team is designed to play in the Premier League. Yes, they brought in Casemiro and Eriksen who should play in the Champions League. But Manchester United doesn’t design a squad to play in the Champions League.
“They are playing to qualify for the Champions League and then they have to build on from there to win the Champions League. The problem is that Man United haven’t been able to build on the club since 2013.
“What Man United has been doing in terms of signing players since then is to go shopping in a low budget supermarket.
“Erik ten Hag came in and he energised a lot of the players for a long time but it seems like all the players have lost that bit now. A lot of the players have overachieved and overperformed this season.”
Parker continued: “I think we already saw in the League Cup final but Man United won that one and victories cover over cracks, so people didn’t really talk about it. After that League Cup final, everything has been poor.
“Maybe he needs to get some younger players into the team because they are hungry and want to win something despite their lack of experience. If that happens, Man United should get 12 points in the last four games, otherwise this season will end up as an embarrassment for the players.”
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