Paul Merson fears Erik ten Hag has lost the Manchester United dressing room after Newcastle dumped his side out of the Carabao Cup at Old Trafford.
The fourth-round rematch between last season’s finalists saw Newcastle strike twice in the first half through Miguel Almiron and Lewis Hall.
Joe Willock then added a third just past the hour mark as Erik ten Hag’s side slumped to an eighth defeat in all competitions this season, and second 3-0 reverse at home in four days following Sunday’s loss to Manchester City.
When asked to sum up Man Utd’s performance, Merson told Sky Sports: “It was shocking. It was poor. They were out of ideas again. It’s constantly now been said over a number of years with Man Utd. You don’t see an identity and you don’t see what they’re trying to do.
“When you watch other teams, you can see what they’re trying to do but they got dominated in midfield by Joe Willock, Sean Longstaff and Joelinton.
“Newcastle made eight changes and United have been beaten 3-0. I personally think the manager has lost the players. There’s ways of losing football matches, and everyone loses matches, but they were completely beaten tonight after going 1-0 down as they were last week [against Manchester City].
“It was just too easy for Newcastle. Tonight, they should’ve been rabbits in headlights going to Old Trafford but they just went out and played.
Sofyan Amrabat and Harry Maguire cut frustrated figures
“The face I see every week is Ten Hag chewing gum, stone-faced. It’s all I see and something has got to be done.
“It’s now a big game on Saturday away to Fulham. I don’t see how much further this goes on. I know I read in the papers it could cost £15m. I know they may say that’s a lot but they’ve just let £80m go to waste in not playing Jadon Sancho.
“They chased this kid for I don’t know how long, he says one thing, and now he’s completely out. He’ll probably go out on loan in January and they’ll be paying half his wages.”
“This needs to get sorted and personally I think it’s toxic. I don’t take any notice of it being toxic behind the scenes. I am more worried on the pitch which is where it counts. They are all over the place and if not for a last-minute penalty they would have drawn at home to Copenhagen. Come on, get serious.
“For me, he is under serious pressure and they have got to have a meeting and see what they do. He has lost the players, you don’t start getting beat the way they are getting beat.
“Everybody loses football matches but there are ways of losing and tonight, like last week, they were just completely beaten. It is not good at all. Everything was too easy for Newcastle.”
Ten Hag: We have to raise our standards
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Erik ten Hag accepted responsibility for Manchester United’s poor performance against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup fourth round but expects the team to stick together and make the necessary improvements
Ten Hag crowned a promising first season in the hot seat by ending the club’s six-year wait for silverware.
But things have gone awry since then and pressure will intensify on the Dutchman and his team after Newcastle inflicted Man Utd’s eighth defeat in 15 matches to progress to the quarter-finals.
The fallout to this tie is sure to be dominated by Ten Hag’s United after seeing Sunday’s derby humbling against Manchester City compounded, but this was Newcastle’s night.
The confidence of the Man Utd players is rock bottom
Ten Hag told Sky Sports: “We know this is not good enough. We have to take responsibility for it, I have to take responsibility for it. We don’t give the performance, so I feel sorry for the fans. It is below our standards and we have to put it right.
“We have to recover from it but we have to quickly recover – Saturday is the next game (against Fulham), and we have to raise our standards. This is not good enough.”
Asked if he felt United had the right characters to meet the standards at the club, Ten Hag said: “We have, I’m confident of that.
“Players will stand up, they are sticking together – you have seen, they have tried. But we know this is not good enough, and as I said, I’m responsible for this, and we have to do this together.”
Ten Hag said the “only way” for United to get through their current predicament was to “stick together”.
“You have to be disciplined and you have to do it with togetherness, everyone has to take responsibility, be accountable and co-operate. That’s the key word,” he added.
Neville: Under-9s football has returned
Mason Mount reacts to the 3-0 Carabao Cup defeat
At full-time from the gantry at Old Trafford, Sky Sports’ Gary Neville said: “Well done to Newcastle. They made changes and took a chance but they fully deserved this tonight.
“But for Man Utd, I’m not quite sure how Ten Hag lifts them for the weekend because the Manchester derby on Sunday was bad and tonight has just cemented what we’ve seen in the last few days.
“Lacking in ideas and Ten Hag’s got some real thinking to do.”
As Newcastle turned their early dominance into an advantage, Neville said: “You can’t say it hasn’t been coming. Man United have lost their discipline in the last 10 minutes, they have looked anxious and the crowd have been quiet.
“Garnacho gets muscled off it. Livramento goes around Mount like he is not there. Dalot is sleeping, Almiron is not. Can he finish, by goodness he can.”
As things went from bad to worse with Hall’s well-taken strike, Neville added: “It is a beautiful strike by Lewis Hall but look at those five Man United players when they give it away, they are just sleeping, complaining to the referee, whinging.
“While they are whinging, Newcastle are winning. Dalot gets back to Willock, but it comes back across. Maguire can’t get enough distance on the header and that is a wonderful strike. Such a controlled, smooth volley.
“As soon as the free-kick was given away, the five of them turning around to have a go at the referee while Newcastle were playing, it was like schoolboy stuff, under nines.”
Howe: Our mentality was brilliant
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Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe says togetherness and unity are what helped his side to a 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the Carabao Cup
The Magpies had only won one of their previous 41 away matches against Man Utd in all competitions, and few will forget their first Old Trafford triumph since December 2013.
Summer signing Tino Livramento, so impressive in the previous round against Manchester City, followed a storming run with an assist for substitute Almiron’s opener.
Boyhood fan Hall, another recent acquisition, volleyed Eddie Howe’s Magpies further ahead before half-time.
The hosts were booed off at the break and improved when they returned, but Willock’s driven effort settled the tie as Newcastle exacted some revenge for Wembley. They now take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the quarter-finals.
Howe told Sky Sports: “It was a very good performance from us. The mentality was brilliant.
“We had injuries and picked one up early. It was a great response. I don’t think there are any easy games in the quarter-finals. We hope to go one better than last season.
“We return to the Premier League with Arsenal. I know we have a tough schedule ahead and we look forward to it.”
