Manchester United will not be competing for major honours again for at least another two to three seasons, according to former Manchester City defender Joleon Lescott. The pundit has sent a reality check to Erik ten Hag ahead of his potential appointment as the next United manager.
The Red Devils are said to have decided upon Ten Hag as their next boss. The Dutchman is set to replace interim boss Ralf Rangnick at the end of the season, according to ESPN.
United have not won the Premier League since 2013 and look outsiders to finish in the Champions League qualification places this season. Lescott believes Ten Hag can be the man to bring glory back to Old Trafford.
However, he says that will not be the case for a couple of seasons at least. Lescott says United will have to go through more pain in order to be back to where they want to be.
He said on BT Sport: “It’s patience. It’s a thing that Man United as a club, as staff, as players, aren’t usually used to having because this club has always had success.
“Now is a period where they need to be patient. For me, he can be the manager that brings them back to glory. Hopefully not! But he needs time
“I don’t think United will get any closer to winning the title until Pep [Guardiola] and [Jurgen] Klopp leave their teams. It’s a results-based business, we know that, but United need to change their approach because they haven’t had success the way they’ve wanted to do it in recent years, they’ve wanted to get back to challenging for titles and looking for quick fixes.
“Now, they need to put pieces in place that will allow them to challenge in two or three seasons. As painful as that sounds to United fans, that’s the reality of it all.”
United great Rio Ferdinand agrees it will take time and says Ten Hag must build a culture at the club. Ferdinand said: “You look at Sir Alex Ferguson there and what he did, he built a culture over many years and had plenty of support in that time.
“But, he built a culture. Managers nowadays have to do that much quicker. You see with Pep and Jurgen Klopp they can build a culture and implement that, but this manager (Ten Hag) will need that time and have to show the signs early on to get that.”
