Andy Cole has compared Manchester United to relegation candidates.
United lost on Tuesday night at home to Bayern Munich in the Champions League, meaning that they were not only knocked out of the tournament, they also failed to qualify for the Europa League when European competition restarts in early 2024.
Added to that, Erik ten Hag saw his side lose to Bournemouth 3-0 at home at the weekend, in perhaps one of the most embarrassing displays since Alex Ferguson retired a decade ago.
Speaking to Betway, Cole said that the achievements of last season may have set Ten Hag up for failure.
He explained: “I think Erik may be a victim of his own success. In his first season he secured a third place finish in the Premier League and won the Carabao Cup with the players that he has, so I believe he overachieved.”
He then observed that the only team who fluctuate in form so much are newly promoted sides, adding: “The only Premier League teams that you can say have been equally as inconsistent as Manchester United are the three sides that got promoted. You’d expect this kind of form from a newly promoted team. It’s been very, very strange.
“People talk about Mikel Arteta and Jürgen Klopp being given the time to build teams at their respective clubs rather than being expected to compete immediately, but are they really competing? They were given the time to bring in the right personnel and provide stability, but ultimately, are they actually competing?”