Mark Goldbridge’s bizarre theory about Erik ten Hag’s Man Utd future goes viral

Mark Goldbridge’s theory about Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United future has gone viral.

United put in a dismal display as they claimed a 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday evening.

Ten Hag’s men were dominated by the relegation-threatened outfit for the majority of the contest, and even when Mason Mount appeared to have netted a smash-and-grab injury-time winner, United blew their chances of three points by conceding in the 99th minute.

United are currently eight points adrift of fifth-placed Tottenham and 11 behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, and it was a result and performance that suggests overtaking either is unlikely.

Erik ten Hag has faced questions over his future since co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe arrived at the club in February, with England manager Gareth Southgate having been among the names linked with the Old Trafford job.

And YouTuber Goldbridge theorised that United’s tepid performance against Brentford may have been down to United’s England contingent having been convinced by the merits of Southgate taking over at Old Trafford.

He said: “That team performance today had the air of a team that’s been away on international duty, had a chat with Southgate, and wants a change.

“And I know they’ve not all gone to the England camp, but something’s changed with that team since the Liverpool game.

“They played like they want the manager gone today. They did.”

Last week, Ten Hag dismissed reports linking Southgate with his job at Old Trafford, claiming he "does not care" about speculation regarding his future at the club.

"You know when you are working at Manchester United, there will always be noise and rumours around the club, team, manager, players, there will always be issues,” Ten Hag explained.

"You [the media] like it to talk about [speculation], but of course, we have different interests, but we are not focusing on that. We are focusing on the process to make the team play better, to improve the way of playing. So yes, I do not care about it.

"I was trainer at Ajax and it [the pressure] was similar and so when you are working at the top in football, you get used to it - so we do not care, players do not care, I do not care.

"We are working and co-operating, we know we have to perform and we have to get the right results."