Former Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag has said that relegation is a genuine possibility for his former side, who are only outside the Premier League's bottom three on goal difference.
United lost for the third game in a row at the weekend, beaten by Chelsea and finishing with 10 men as pressure mounted on manager Michael Carrick. The former player faces being the third manager dismissed by the Ineos hierarchy in a little over two years.
United's slide down the table
The first was Ten Hag, who was shown the door in 2024 when United sat 14th. They are now even lower in 17th with one win from their nine Premier League games, that victory coming over newly promoted Ipswich at Old Trafford.
United have not been relegated since 1974, but Ten Hag, who won a domestic cup in both of his full seasons in charge, admits that dropping into the Championship cannot be ruled out given the club's downward spiral.
Ten Hag's warning
The Dutchman was asked whether he sees United being relegated and told ESPN NL's 'Goedemorgen Eredivisie': "In the Premier League it's certainly possible, because all the teams are simply strong. They're all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle - yes, then it can become very, very difficult."
For all their struggles since Sir Alex Ferguson, this is new territory for the Red Devils. United have not been in the relegation zone after nine games or more since November 1986, when they collected a single point in Ferguson's first two games in charge following Ron Atkinson's dismissal.
Carrick's response
United's upcoming fixtures are not favourable, which means this could get worse before it threatens to get better. Their next league assignment sees them face Aston Villa before travelling to Liverpool.
Carrick has said on the prospect of going down: "We've got to keep moving forward and winning games, simple as that. There's no words that I'm going to explain to you now that makes it [being in relegation zone] any difference, it's not going to change it."
The United boss, who only got the job permanently in the summer, said it was simply a case of seeing their situation differently. "You can look at it like that [negatively] and you can look at how far you can move up the league quite quickly if you win football matches," he said. "So that's the way it's got to be approached, for sure."
