Former Arsenal player and pundit Paul Merson gave out some harsh criticism towards Erik Ten Hag’s tactics at Manchester United on Sky Sports.

He believes that the Dutchman’s setup is ‘too negative’, accusing him of lining up his team to ‘try not to lose a match before they try to win it.’

Moreover, he also said that he believes ‘The Sir Alex Ferguson days are long gone’ and that ‘They’re as far away from winning the league as you’ll ever see’.

He did, however, give out some praise to newly-signed striker Rasmus Hojlund, saying that the Dane looked to be ‘a right handful’ during his cameo appearance against Arsenal at the weekend.

What did Paul Merson say?

“They try not to lose a match before they try to win it. I don’t understand. If teams are scoring goals then you’ve got to have a go. I think the manager’s got to be braver. He’s got the players to be braver.

“It’s too negative – counter-attacking football. I do worry for Man United. The Sir Alex Ferguson days are long gone. They’re as far away from winning the league as you’ll ever see. I know everyone’s a long way off Manchester City but they’re a million miles off.

“You forget they’re one of the biggest teams in the world. Man Utd can’t even stump up £7 million for Marc Cucurella. They’re taking a player [Sergio Reguilon] that can’t even play for Tottenham. They’ve got the Jadon Sancho thing now as well. Just keep it in-house.

“Rasmus Hojlund looked good – a right handful. But that was for 20 minutes. I saw Mykhaylo Mudryk for 20 minutes at Liverpool in January and I haven’t seen him since.”

Should Erik Ten Hag consider altering his tactical approach at Manchester United?

This season, United have looked all too predictable – it seems that every team they have faced has had a plan to effectively nullifying their attacking threats and contain them.

Even Wolves, who look like one of the season’s most likely relegation candidates, were able to stifle the Red Devils – it took a late goal from Raphael Varane for United to see them off.

With that being said, Ten Hag does not necessarily need to enact wholesale changes. He would benefit from changing the formation on occasions – perhaps to a 5-2-2-1 setup – to ensure that teams will need to take more variables into consideration when preparing to take on United.