Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag receives reality check as unique comparisons of him with Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer surface

Erik ten Hag, the manager of Manchester United, has received a reality check on his performance at Old Trafford. According to Richard Keys, the current Red Devils squad is no better than those coached by Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

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Ten Hag assisted United in beating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup earlier this year, ending their six-year trophy drought. They have a solid chance of winning the FA Cup, the Europa League, and the top four Premier League finishes.

'They are moving in the right direction but…' - Jason McAteer

However, Keys does not believe the progress has been as significant as some believe. The host believes that the 2016–17 Mourinho team, which won two trophies, and the 2020–21 Solskjaer team, which finished second, were both superior to the current United club.

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Former Liverpool winger Jason McAteer argued Richard Key's case on beIN SPORTS on Sunday that United are not as far down the road as some people think. He said: "They are moving in the right direction, but the step is not as big as that football club thinks it is."

According to former Manchester United forward Garth Crooks, the Red Devils' change under Erik ten Hag this season was largely due to the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo. Manchester United defeated Nottingham Forest 2-0 on Sunday (April 16), moving up to third in the Premier League. At the City Ground, goals from Antony and Diogo Dalot gave Ten Hag and company the victory.

Despite being without a number of their regular starters due to injuries, the Red Devils made sure they defeated Steve Cooper's team by scoring all three points. Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Luke Shaw, and Marcus Rashford were all unable to go to Nottingham.

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In the absence of Ten Hag's first-choice defenders, players like Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof stepped up, which particularly impressed Crooks. He gave Manchester United's defence high plaudits for keeping the Tricky Trees at bay. "Manchester United were one of the few teams that kept a clean sheet this weekend, but what was special about it was United are ravaged by injuries," Crooks wrote in his BBC Sport column. "Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and Diogo Dalot have not featured regularly in the first team this season, but you wouldn't have known that (going by) the way they performed against Nottingham Forest," he said.