Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag appears to have aimed a sly dig at former manager Jose Mourinho after the Portuguese icon highlighted the extent to which the Dutchman has been backed.
The Special One infamously managed the Red Devils between 2016 and 2018, leading the English giants to the UEFA Europa League and Carabao Cup titles while guiding the club to a second-place finish in his second season in charge, which remains to this day Manchester United's highest finish since Sir Alex Ferguson retired.
However, things eventually turned sour in the build-up to his sacking, with Mourinho mostly blaming things on a lack of financial support from the owners. In a recent interview with the Telegraph, the 61-year-old pointed out Ten Hag's spending under the Glazers and argued that this was something he merited during his reign at Old Trafford.
"What Ten Hag has in his time at Manchester United I didn't have. I didn't have that level of support," Jose told the British publication.
"I didn't have that level of trust. So I left sad, because I felt I was in the beginning of the process. In some moments, I felt if they trusted me and believed in my experience things could be different."
This has now prompted a response from Ten Hag, with the Dutch tactician aiming a sly dig back at the Portuguese icon. Erik, who sat down for an interview with ESPN Brasil, stated that every single Manchester United manager since Ferguson left has missed out on his preferred targets, thus contributing to their lack of success. That is, every single manager bar one: Mourinho.
"Apart from Mourinho, the manager didn't get the players they wanted, and that is what you need," Ten Hag told ESPN Brasil.
"I am confident we will achieve our goals, but it is a tough competition. It is not a two-horse race anymore.
"There are seven, eight [teams in the Premier League] who all go for the title, who all have very good squads. So if you want to go to the title, you have to construct that squad."
While Ten Hag did not say it directly, he took a line of argument often presented by Mourinho's biggest critics during his Old Trafford reign. The signing of Paul Pogba, Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – though the latter joined on a free transfer – contradicts the Special One's assertion that he was not backed.
And that's not all. Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Nemanja Matic, Victor Lindelof, and Fred were all signed for considerable fees and were all part of Mourinho's £378M spending spree at the club that brought in 11 players in total.
However, Ten Hag, who was referring to his unsuccessful pursuit of Frenkie de Jong and Harry Kane when arguing he and many other Sir Alex Ferguson successor have missed out on their preferred targets, has also been backed heavily. Despite this, Manchester United do not appear closer to returning to the pinnacle of English football.
As a result, the Dutchman's future at the Theatre of Dreams has been questioned, with several outlets claiming that his sacking appears more likely than unlikely.