David Beckham has offered his support to Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, insisting the Dutchman should not need to be motivating his squad to represent the club.
Ten Hag finds himself under immense pressure heading into the first summer under INEOS control, with reports suggesting he could be relieved of his duties in favour of departing Bayern Munich boss Thomas Tuchel or England chief Gareth Southgate.
Speaking to talkSPORT at the premiere of 99, a new documentary about United’s treble success in 1999, Beckham argued Ten Hag should not be required to motivate the squad heading into the final few weeks of the season and urged the players to look at themselves first.
“In all honesty you’d hope that the manager doesn’t have to do much,” Beckham explained. “I think that’s the whole point of being a Manchester United player and playing in these big games, you should be motivated.
“When you’re a professional footballer and you’re doing the job that you love and you’re at the club that you love, when you’re playing in any game whether it’s a regular season game or whether it’s an FA Cup final against your rivals, then that should be enough motivation.
“If it’s not, then you’re in the wrong team and you’re playing the wrong sport so I think at the end of the day, we went into every game whether it was a youth cup game, a friendly game, off-season or the European Cup final, with the same mentality and the same drive.
“That’s what you’d hope at any team and any player for Manchester United, go into an FA Cup final against Manchester City with enough motivation that a manager shouldn’t have to say much.”
Beckham went on to show his support for Ten Hag, adding: “We all know that Erik’s a very qualified manager and a good manager and he has the right motives.
“But I think we were lucky in our day that we had Sir Alex Ferguson, we were lucky that we had Eric Harrison and Jim Ryan and Nobby Stiles and all of these great managers and motivators.”
United have three more Premier League games this season to ensure they do not record their lowest-ever finish in the division. They currently sit eighth and need points against Arsenal, Newcastle and Brighton to climb up to their previous lowest of seventh.
The Red Devils will close out the season with an FA Cup final against Manchester City, after which a final decision on Ten Hag’s future will be made.
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