De Boer took aim at Ten Hag and his men after their defeat to Tottenham (Image: Getty)
Frank De Boer – once dubbed the ‘worst Premier League manager ever’ – has slated ’s after their 3-0 drubbing by . Mustering just seven points from their opening six matches, Ten Hag’s Red Devils haven’t hit the ground running this season despite the backing and trust of new minority shareholder .
Spurs’ visit to Old Trafford provided the squad with the perfect opportunity to bounce back, but abysmal defending and blunt-edged forward play – capped off by captain ’s eventually overturned red card – saw them suffer yet another home embarrassment after embarrassed them with the same scoreline last month.
De Boer, who lost each of his four league games in charge of Crystal Palace in 2017 before being swiftly sacked and was given the ‘worst’ manager title by ex-United boss Jose Mourinho, was in Manchester to witness the massacre and was heavily critical of his compatriot’s squad and their set-up.
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Working as a pundit for Viaplay TV, has chimed in on the standing of Mourinho’s old club United, stating: “Having watched them and having now analysed , I can only say that they are in a bad state.
“United look like a team that are wobbling everywhere. They have been totally outclassed (by ) – and I am talking about being outclassed tactically, in quality, in effort and energy. Where weren’t they outclassed?
“I was looking at the players – and one after the other they made such stupid mistakes. So many players are making poor passes. I was trying to count the amount of big things that went wrong in the first 45 minutes and it was impossible to count those big mistakes on the fingers of two hands.
“I am stunned by what I saw in Manchester. It became even more clear how bad United are when I looked at the way played from the back, how they built things up, always finding a free player, showing guts on the ball and having the right power in a fight for the ball. I found it remarkable how an opponent of United’s could play like that.”
Their captain’s red capped off a dismal Sunday for Man Utd (Image: Getty)
De Boer’s compatriot Ten Hag has reportedly been given the club’s next two fixtures – a Europa League clash with FC Porto and a trip to Aston Villa – to save his skin, having been backed in the summer with not only a contract extension but a range of new talent.
One of those newcomers, Joshua Zirkzee, also earned criticism from De Boer for his performance against Spurs – having also been in the firing line for some other lacklustre outings this term against the likes of and Brighton.
“Look at Joshua Zirkzee,” added De Boer. “He was having a nightmare. He was absolutely shocking. How many times does he make the wrong choices on the pitch? Okay, he did have one shot at goal, and the keeper saved it. But all in all, he was champion in losing the ball.
“During the warm-up before the game, I was watching him, and he was shooting on goal – but he was blasting it anywhere but on target!
De Boer also criticised new United forward Zirkzee (Image: Getty)
“Honestly, he did not hit the target once in the warm-up. That was terrible. When you are a good striker, you don’t have to blast every ball, you have to make sure your shots are in the corner. During the game, Marcus Rashford tried to shoot like that. Zirkzee never did.”
It was De Boer’s statements about Rashford that earned him the label of the ‘worst manager in league history’. In 2018, after a double from the Englishman saw the Red Devils prevail against rivals , the ex-Crystal Palace manager stated it was a “pity” Mourinho was the forward’s manager.
Mourinho responded: “I read something, some quote from the worst manager in the history of the – Frank de Boer… If Marcus was coached by Frank, he would lose – because Frank lost every game.”