Erik ten Hag handed 'new Man United deadline' as Manuel Ugarte complaint debunked

Manchester United head into another busy week in high spirits after a return to winning ways in the Premier League at Southampton.

United may have started shakily at St Mary's Stadium, but they were good value for the three points in the end. Matthijs de Ligt, Marcus Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho were on the scoresheet as the Reds made it two wins from four to start the season.

Erik ten Hag's team return to action on Tuesday night when they host Barnsley in the Carabao Cup. However, despite the good feeling going into the match, the latest look at the media headlines suggests the Dutchman is far from being in the clear at this stage.

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Ten Hag sent United deadline

According to Give Me Sport, United's hierarchy have informed Ten Hag he will need to prove himself over the next month before Ineos are suitably satisfied that he is the right man for the job. It is believed Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co want to see signs of an identity being built by Ten Hag and a style of play before giving him further reassurances.

What MEN Sport says: When Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada sat down with journalists prior to the defeat to Liverpool, they insisted they were happy with Ten Hag as manager. Having given him a new contract in the summer, they can hardly say otherwise. However, if they were to sack him now, all they would do is weaken themselves in the eyes of the fans. Ineos have chosen to stick with him so they can't backtrack on that in less than six months. They need to get behind their manager now and setting him a tight deadline to prove himself is unlikely to gain the reaction they want.

Ugarte complaint debunked

ESPN pundit Shaka Hislop has complained about Ten Hag's decision not to start Manuel Ugarte in the victory over Southampton. Hislop argued that there was little point starting Christian Eriksen over the Uruguayan because the Dane is not the 'future' of the club.

What MEN Sport says: While Hislop is right to suggest Ugarte is the future of United, Ten Hag did right not to start him at the weekend. The Uruguayan did not have a full pre-season and had just come back to the UK after two matches in South America where he started and played the entirety. United have been criticised for not managing players' playing time correctly in recent seasons leading to injuries so why the criticism for doing the right thing. Ugarte was high risk going into the clash with Southampton so they were right not to rush him into a full debut.