Ten Hag says Manchester United relegation is "certainly possible"

When a manager who no longer works at the club starts talking about relegation, that tells you plenty about the mood around Old Trafford. Erik ten Hag, who was in charge of Manchester United until last November, didn't hold back when asked whether his former team could go down this season: "It's certainly possible," he said in an interview with ESPN.

That line didn't come out of nowhere. United dropped to 17th place in the table after losing 2-0 to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, a result that piles even more pressure on current manager Michael Carrick. And here's the detail that should really worry the fan base: only goal difference is keeping the club out of the relegation zone. That's it.

For a club that hasn't gone down since 1974, simply having this conversation feels almost surreal. Sure, there's plenty of season left and time to turn things around, but United are now staring at a scenario that would have seemed unthinkable not long ago: a genuine relegation battle. The schedule doesn't do them any favors either, with Aston Villa and Liverpool up next in the Premier League.

Ten Hag ran United from April 2022 to November 2024. He finished third in his first season, slipped to eighth in 2023-24, and barely made it to November of the following campaign before getting fired with the team sitting 14th. During his time at the club he won the Carabao Cup in 2022-23 and the FA Cup a year later.

Asked directly whether he sees relegation as a realistic possibility come May, on the Dutch ESPN NL program 'Goedemorgen Eredivisie,' the manager didn't mince words:

In the Premier League it's certainly possible, because every team is just strong. Every squad is strong, every team has good coaches. And if you end up on the wrong side of things once and you really get caught in that vicious circle, yes, it can get very, very difficult from there.Erik ten Hag

Ten Hag, who currently serves as technical director at FC Twente in the Netherlands, also took the chance to look back on his time at Old Trafford and didn't pass up the opportunity to defend his record there, including a few remarks about Cristiano Ronaldo's commitment and physical condition during the period they overlapped at the club.

I think we did pretty well at United. Before we arrived, six years without winning a trophy. Look where they are now. We were at Wembley six times, we played two FA Cup finals. We won two trophies, we finished third. And yes, we just did pretty well. And at times we also played some pretty good football. We also went through a rough patch... but the Premier League is so strong that once you hit a difficult run, you've got a real problem on your hands.Erik ten Hag

Between the Dutchman's self-defense and the uncomfortable reality of the table, one thing is clear: United are living through one of those stretches where every point counts double. The question hanging over Manchester these days isn't whether they'll fight for Europe, it's whether they can pull away from the bottom of the standings in time.