Arsenal
Aston Villa
Chelsea
Crystal Palace
Everton
Fulham
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers
News
‘My worry’… Jamie Carragher shares the manager who Erik ten Hag is starting to remind him of
Jamie Carragher says Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is starting to remind him of former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.
Erik ten Hag has endured a difficult second season in the Premier League so far, with Man United currently underachieving.
Many expected United to kick on after an impressive campaign under the Dutchman last time out. Ten Hag led the Red Devils to a third-placed finish while also winning the Carabao Cup in his debut season.
But United currently sit seventh in the table, eight points off the top four and 13 behind league leaders Liverpool.
Chris Sutton recently called for the club to make a change in the dugout and dismiss Ten Hag after an underwhelming start to the campaign.
Now, Jamie Carragher has offered his verdict on Ten Hag and drew comparisons between the United boss and Rafa Benitez.
Carragher says Ten Hag reminds him of Benitez
Speaking on The Overlap’s , Carragher compared Ten Hag to Benitez due to his pragmatic approach and lack of ‘charisma’.
“My worry with Ten Hag is that he reminds me a bit of Rafa Benitez,” the Liverpool legend said. “What I mean by that is that he didn’t have great charisma.
“When you see him in the press conferences it’s very straight, it looks like he doesn’t want to be there. Benitez had that sort of way about him where you wouldn’t be hanging on his every word in a press conference but he was really top drawer on the training ground, he would be drilling us in everything we did.
“I thought that is Ten Hag, that last season when United were doing well. I thought he really knows the game but he hasn’t got a huge personality or charisma.
“So if he’s not getting stuff on the actual pitch tactically and setting them up really well I’m thinking there’s not much else because I don’t see the players loving him or being this man manager, or making players lift their game.”
Benitez enjoyed a brilliant spell at Liverpool between 2004 and 2010 where he guided them to a historic Champions League title, as well as an FA Cup.
The Spaniard has since won a Europa League with Chelsea and two La Liga titles with Real Madrid.
He did a brilliant job with Newcastle United a few years back but his latest spell in England with Everton was a bit of a disaster.
Nevertheless, in some ways, it isn’t bad to be compared to a manager of Benitez’s pedigree. The Spaniard delivered success at the very highest level, despite his style of football not exactly being pleasing to the eye.
Ten Hag’s brand of football at United has come under similar criticism. But this season he hasn’t had the results to fall back on.