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Erik ten Hag's future at Manchester United remains uncertain as the October international break gets underway.
United were held to a goalless draw with Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday and have just eight points from their first seven top-flight fixtures. Pressure mounted on Ten Hag following the defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at the end of September and the noise has not gone away after draws with Porto and Villa.
Thomas Tuchel has been identified as a potential successor to Ten Hag in the event United decide to change the manager. It's understood officials from United will hold a meeting on Tuesday in London to discuss Ten Hag's future.
United do not return to the pitch until October 19 when they host Brentford in the first match after the international break. It remains to be seen if Ten Hag will be in the Old Trafford dugout when United faces the Bees later this month.
READ MORE: Manchester United lining up Thomas Tuchel to replace Erik ten Hag
Following the draw with Villa, several national media outlets have provided their assessment of Ten Hag's position as United manager.
Laurie Whitwell, via The Athletic
"For all the attention on Erik ten Hag’s job, the word from inside Old Trafford has been that we are not at the point of contemplating his tenure in the past tense. Nevertheless, the Manchester United manager undoubtedly knew the significance to his future of the match at Aston Villa after the brutal loss to Tottenham Hotspur and the wild draw at Porto. A defeat in Birmingham would have felt terminal, at least from the outside.
"So to drop Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez, two players he signed at a combined cost of around £95million ($125m), struck as a manager willing to take radical action to shake up performances. Martinez was one of Ten Hag’s stalwarts in his debut campaign, and his absence through injury last season was regarded as a key reason for the team’s downturn. De Ligt is a player Ten Hag made captain at Ajax aged 18 and pushed to be reunited within Manchester.
"But both defenders were poor in Porto, hooked at 78 minutes for Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans. If that double substitution caused a stir, then the sight of Maguire and Evans on the team sheet for a Premier League game of such consequence to Ten Hag created an even bigger ripple."
Alyson Rudd, via The Times
"Erik ten Hag praised his players’ determination and resilience and it is true there was no evidence that the team have stopped trying for their manager, but the output of Manchester United is one of a so-so mid-table club. There is little swagger and too few periods of dominance. If United were a portrait hanging in the National Gallery, critics would comment on the lack of light behind the eyes. Ten Hag’s faith in the side is not being translated into vivaciousness.
"United’s sporting director, Dan Ashworth, the chief executive, Omar Berrada, and the technical director, Jason Wilcox, will meet this week and contemplate if they should stick or twist on the tenure of Ten Hag. There is a stack of evidence to wade through, including this relatively competent if insipid draw with Aston Villa, a team who played as if slightly hungover on the fumes of Champions League success a few days previously.
"This is not the first time that Ten Hag has been under pressure to prove the many doubters wrong and not the first time either that his team summoned some fighting spirit — but not enough to dent the overall sense of mild despair at a club sitting 14th in the table after their worst start to a season in 35 years."
Chris Wheeler, via the Daily Mail
"When he needed a result and a performance to potentially save his job and avoid Manchester United's worst start to a Premier League season, Erik ten Hag didn't simply roll out the big guns he has bought as part of a £600million transfer spend over two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.
"When the heat was on and he entered what felt like the last chance saloon, Ten Hag didn't try to blow Aston Villa out of the water with big names and big price tags.
"No, he named a line-up for what could feasibly have been his last game as United manager that contained three star pupils from the club's academy (Marcus Rashford, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo), two free transfers (Christian Eriksen and Jonny Evans) and three players he inherited after arriving at Old Trafford from Ajax (Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire and Diogo Dalot)."