Ian Wright claims Manchester United players have gone backwards under Erik ten Hag

Ian Wright says Marcus Rashford’s decision making ‘is off’ during Manchester United’s games (Reuters)

Ian Wright believes no Manchester United player has improved under Erik ten Hag and claims Marcus Rashford is an example of someone who has ‘got worse’ during the Dutchman’s reign at Old Trafford.

United are locked in a battle for a Champions League place following their 2-2 draw with Tottenham on Sunday which has left Ten Hag’s side eight points behind fourth-placed Arsenal who have played one game less.

Ten Hag has also faced criticism over United’s performance against a Spurs side who were far from full strength.

When asked if a cultural problem at Old Trafford is preventing players from performing at their best under Ten Hag, Wright told Premier League Productions: ‘Yes, because none of the players since he’s been there have improved.

‘You can look at [Aston] Villa players, he [Unai Emery] came after Stevie [Gerrard]. Look at the Tottenham players after [Antonio] Conte, these players have improved with the coaching they’re getting.

‘Man United players are not improving. In actual fact they are getting worse.

‘I watched Rashford the other day, it looks like his decision making, whatever his decision making, it’s off, he scored a beautiful goal, but it’s off.

‘I think you look at Man United, it’s pure and simple, I think it’s great Sir Jim is coming in, he looks like he’s very much a massive supporter, he wants to make change because obviously being a fan as well. He could’ve done so many other things, but he’s come in because he wants to put it right.

‘I think if he gets those people… it comes down to the structure on the pitch and the coach [Ten Hag], is that coach good enough?’

Ian Wright believes Manchester United’s players are confused by Erik ten Hag’s tactics (PA)

Wright added that he believes United’s players are confused by the tactics Ten Hag is trying to implement.

‘You watch that game the other day, it’s the perfect start, Tottenham with the players who are missing should not be going to Man United and be having 68 per cent possession, and dominating the game,’ Wright said.

‘The way Man United started that game was perfect – the high press, winning the ball back, scoring in three minutes.

‘And then, this is where I have a problem with Manchester United, they don’t know what they’re doing because there’s no structure to how they’re going to keep that going, how they’re going to continue to press, so they drop off and lose control of the game.

‘This is why Tottenham end up passing around, building confidence and in the end they get their goal. You think to yourself, ‘okay, let’s see what happens in the second half’, the second half comes and they [Tottenham] score as soon as they come out in the second half.

‘The problem I feel that they’ve got is either they don’t understand the structure he’s [Ten Hag] trying to give them or he’s not giving the right kind of structure and not working on it.

‘You cannot work out what they’re doing, are they going to high press? Are they going to mid press? Are they playing as a counter-attacking team?

‘They’ve got someone like Kobbie Mainoo now who looks like somebody who can control and manage the game so they’re going to have to put a lot more into him but he’s a young player, you need someone with him.

‘At the moment Man United, at home to a Tottenham team missing so many players, are playing counter-attack football. At some stage there’s no way the fans will be saying they’re happy with that.

‘Everything is lop-sided, it’s on the left, I don’t know what’s going on with them, they cannot activate their right-hand side. They’re attacking from, hopefully, a one-on-one situation where a Rashford or a [Alejandro] Garnacho or someone does something special.

‘If Antony is playing on the right-hand side he cuts in, if Rashford is playing on the left he cuts in. When have you ever seen anyone get to the line and flick back to him [Rasmus Hojlund], or lay one into him or get it in that No.10 area and slip one into him, you don’t see it.

‘It’s Manchester United, it is big, it is massive, what we’re seeing now for 18 months, yes, he did well in the first year to get into the top four, they won a trophy, but what we’ve seen from Ange [Postecoglou] in the short space of time, what we’ve seen in Unai Emery in that time, to an extent, we’ve even seen a cultural change in what we’ve got back to with Arsenal.

‘Man United I thought that by now would’ve been in a structural place with the team and who they’re bringing in but we’ve seen with the signings it’s still a scattergun situation.’

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‘Man United players are not improving. In actual fact they are getting worse.’