'Broken' Erik ten Hag wants to be 'put out of his misery', claims body language expert

Erik Ten Hag has suffered a less than satisfactory two-year stint with Manchester United, and is once again in the firing line after a woeful start to the new campaign

Erik ten Hag is 'broken' and wants to be 'put out of his misery' at Manchester United according to a body language expert.

The Dutchman has suffered a sub-par two years in the world of management since parting ways with Ajax to take the reins of the Red Devils in 2022, guiding the Old Trafford elite to a record-low eighth-place Premier League finish in the 2023/24 campaign, while United's current campaign has also got off to a woeful start.

The Reds sit in 14th place after Sunday's 0-0 draw with Aston Villa, having achieved two wins from their opening seven fixtures of the 2024/25 season. And body language expert Darren Stanton - who has been called the 'human lie detector' - believes that Ten Hag is just about ready to depart the northwest.

Speaking to BoyleSports, Stanton said: "He’s definitely a man who’s looking to be put out of his misery or is expecting to be taken off to the butcher’s shop, if that makes sense. He looks ready to call it a day — he looks like a broken man. He looks like he’s lost all confidence in himself and his ability to pull it back."

Assessing the Dutchman’s post-match press conference and broadcast interview after suffering a 3-0 walloping to Spurs last month, Stanton also noted how his eyes give away his true feelings at present. He added: "In isolation, the eyes are the main key to spotting when someone has an internal emotion of anger even though he’s trying to mask his feelings.

"You can see it in close quarters. You have these two furrow lines. Rishi Sunak used to show these quite a lot at PMQs when he was on the ropes. Principally this is not a happy guy at all. He looks like he feels he’s been thrown under a bus, really.

"He’s showing contempt for a number of reasons. He’s in this position because he feels like he’s not been listened to and people aren’t doing as they’re told. He’s got a lot of anger swirling around and this anger continues to increase.

"When you zoom in on his press conference, he flashes lots of sadness through micro expressions. The only reason why he’s flashing sadness is for himself. So he thinks he feels he’s on the way out."

It has been reported this morning that United are lining up former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel as a replacement for Ten Hag - with the club's board set to meet over the international break to discuss their plans going forward after another week without a win. United reportedly held talks with Tuchel over the summer but ultimately decided to put their faith in Ten Hag for another season.

United kicked off their 2024/25 campaign with a glimmer of hope through a 1-0 win over Fulham in their opener, before they were bested 2-1 by Brighton the following week. A 3-0 thrashing from fierce rivals Liverpool ensued in the Red Devils' next game before Ten Hag's side achieved a 3-0 win over Southampton to give fans something to cheer about.

However, goalless draws with Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, as well as a midweek stalemate with Porto and a 3-0 loss to Spurs as of late have indicated that the manager is struggling to get the best out of his side on the pitch - despite an influx of new talent including Joshua Zirkzee, Mattijs De Ligt and Manuel Ugarte to name a few.

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