"A manager is supposed to protect you" - Micah Richards claims Erik ten Hag is shifting blame to his players following Manchester United's poor start

Micah Richards reckons Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag may be looking to take the heat off him by throwing some of his players under the bus.

The Red Devils have made a lackluster start to the new season, losing twice to Tottenham Hotspur (2-0) and Arsenal (3-1). They managed to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers (1-0) and Nottingham Forest (3-2) but were wholly unconvincing.

Ten Hag's side lost to the Gunners without Jadon Sancho being selected in the matchday squad. The Dutch tactician claimed that the English winger had underperformed in training which his player immediately reacted to with a long-worded statement on X (formerly Twitter).

Richards has hit out at Ten Hag for publicly airing his grievances with Sancho's poor training level. He suggests that he may be trying to take some of the pressure off himself. The former Manchester City defender alluded to the Manchester United boss protecting the English winger last season, telling The Rest is Football podcast

"It's a very difficult one because you remember last season when Jadon Sancho was going through problems off the field and Ten Hag protected him. So for him to come out and publicly embarrass him, there must be something go on."

The pundit then made his feelings clear on the matter and insisted that Ten Hag should have protected Sancho:

"I don't agree with it though. It should be kept in-house. United have had so many problems over the seasons, it's almost like the manager is saying 'OK I'm getting heat now, Man United aren't playing the way that everyone's expecting them to play so let's take away the heat from me'. That's not what a manager is supposed to do a manager is supposed to protect you."

Sancho, 23, has endured a woeful spell at Manchester United since joining from Borussia Dortmund in 2021 for £72 million. He has been unable to break into Ten Hag's first team on a consistent basis.

The English attacker has been handed just three substitute appearances this season amounting to 76 minutes worth of action. Ten Hag had protected the player last season and even sent him for individual training in the Netherlands for three months in the Winter.

Sancho did show signs of bouncing back to his Dortmund best which saw him bag 50 goals and 64 assists in 137 games across competitions. However, it still seemed that he was lacking confidence. He sits on 12 goals and six assists in 82 games for Manchester United.

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Alan Shearer reckons Manchester United's Jadon Sancho may be in the last-chance saloon with Ten Hag

Jadon Sancho's lack of form has been astounding.

Sancho's lack of development at Old Trafford has been worrying and it has seen him drop out of the England squad. He is now in his third season with Manchester United but is still failing to hit the heights many anticipated.

Alan Shearer waded in on the debate regarding Ten Hag going public with his issues concerning Sancho's training performance. He reckons the United boss' impatience is now showing (via the aforementioned source):

"I always think when they (coaches) publicly criticize you, they're in their last chance saloon if you like. They've tried looking after you, they've tried protecting you, they've tried everything. It's the last chance basically when a manager comes and says 'Look this is it, I've got to try something different or he's gone or something'."

Sancho has three years left on his contract with Manchester United. Reports claim that he has received interest from the Turkish Super Lig but is unlikely to leave the club in the near future.