"He's essentially been thrown out to the lions" - Paul Scholes on Erik ten Hag's future at Manchester United after dismal start to the season

Paul Scholes has backed Erik ten Hag to remain the Manchester United manager. He believes the Dutchman has put together a good team, but just not good enough to win the Premier League title.

Speaking on TNT Sports ahead of the match against FC Copenhagen on Tuesday night, Scholes said he's backing Ten Hag to continue his work at Old Trafford. He does not think a change in the hot seat is needed at the club:

"I think it's hard to say - I think he's been a very good coach so far, I like him. He's been ruthless in a job that is incredibly difficult, he's essentially been thrown out to the lions in the sense of answering every single question thrown at him by the media and I think he's handled it really well."

He added:

"Has he put a team together that is good enough to challenge for the Premier League? No, but it looked like a good start towards the end of last season. We've come into the summer and the recruitment hasn't been there, it's not at the level of competing with the likes of Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool. There's still a lot of work to do, but he's the right man, whether Jim is coming in to bring someone else in or not."

The comments come just days after reports suggested Sir Jim Ratcliffe was thinking of a change once his 25% takeover is done. Former Chelsea manager Graham Potter is the name that has been linked with Manchester United.

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Paul Scholes admits Manchester United have made a poor start to the season

Paul Scholes has admitted that things have not been at their best for Manchester United. He has urged the players to improve and believes the results are down to inconsistency on the pitch.

The Red Devils legend added that there is a cause for concern but does not think it is on the manager. He said:

"There's a long way to go but there's definitely a cause for concern. They've been bang average in the first part of the season and they need to improve. Inconsistent performances from players and when you're inconsistent, it's difficult for a manager to pick a settled team."

Manchester United are third in the UEFA Champions League table after picking up the first points of the season today. In the Premier League, they are eighth in the table with five wins and four losses in the opening nine matches.