Jamie Carragher has backed Erik ten Hag to improve Manchester United despite suffering defeat in his first Premier League game at the helm, claiming the Red Devils cannot perform any worse than last season.
Ten Hag was angry as his new team lost to Brighton 2-1 on Sunday.
Pascal Gross’ first-half brace handed the Seagulls their first win at Old Trafford.
After a difficult offseason, Ten Hag became the first United manager since Louis van Gaal in 2014 to lose his first Premier League match in charge (against Swansea City).
Frenkie de Jong, a prominent transfer target for Manchester United, is currently playing for Barcelona.
While they deployed Eriksen as a false nine against Brighton with Ronaldo only fit enough to appear from the bench.
Meanwhile, the club’s transfer plan has come under further fire with rumours that they are interested in signing Adrien Rabiot of Juventus and Marko Arnautovic of Bologna.
But Liverpool legend Carragher has urged United fans to keep faith with Ten Hag.
He claims they can only improve on a dire 2021-22 campaign.
Carragher told Sky Sports on Tuesday:
“No matter how poor Manchester United are at the moment, you would still expect them to beat Brighton at home.
“It just shows what a manager who has been in the job for two or three years and had that time to implement what he’s about with his team can do – and you can see that with Graham Potter and Brighton. Manchester United are not at that stage right now with a new manager.
“I still think Manchester United will improve on last season. You can’t see it getting any worse with their points that they got and the goals they conceded. The window’s not closed, they’ve still got a couple of weeks to get some players in.
“There’s criticism of the players they’re trying to bring in, but I’ve been in that position myself at Liverpool when you’re trying to chase the top teams and at times you have to think: ‘Should I take a chance on this player?’
“Liverpool or Manchester City don’t have to take those chances. That’s the benefit of being successful. You can’t judge the squad until the window’s closed and you’ll see where they go from there.
“Ten Hag has got a great pedigree in what he did with Ajax and how good they were in the Champions League. He built two teams there, so you have to keep the faith with the manager.”
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