Man Utd icon insists Erik ten Hag was sacked too early and points finger higher up

Jaap Stam claims Erik ten Hag was deserving of more time despite 's lowly league position.

The Red Devils sit in the bottom half of the and the manager paid the price as , following the loss at . Ten Hag had survived talk of an exit in the summer with the club choosing to stick by him despite some poor showings.

May's victory helped him keep his job but he was unable to improve results in the opening weeks of this season. Stam is adamant the time for change was the summer, but they should've honoured the new contract they handed to Ten Hag before the season began.

The ex-player also questioned why the sacking came so soon after the handing out of a new deal, claiming the ex-Ajax boss was owed more time.

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He told : "If they wanted to remove Erik ten Hag as manager then they should have done it in the summer. When you’re looking for other managers and talking to other managers, I don’t think it’s good for the current one. If you’re not sure about them the decision needs to be made there – but if you agree to a new deal and still want to go ahead with Erik then you need to follow through and support him in the long term.

“The way it was done at this moment in time was a harsh decision and, for me, done a bit quickly. Only two months or so after signing a new contract seems a bit too early to me and I think he should have been given more time.”

The run of poor results under Ten Hag dates back well into last season, when the Dutchman led them to their lowest ever Premier League finish and ended the season with a minus goal difference.

Stam has also blamed the ownership as well as the hierarchy, who have recently been put in place following the wholesale changes under INEOS. He added: “The United players clearly need to step up and they haven’t been performing at the level they should have been – but this is a whole club thing.

“The manager should take responsibility as he’s responsible for the team but higher up things need to be better too; the recruitment and getting the right players in for the correct system and style of player has been lacking. If you want to win trophies and challenge the best sides, you need to be consistent and these players haven’t been."

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