Zlatan Ibrahimovic questions whether Erik ten Hag has fully adapted to life at Manchester United a year on from joining from Ajax because of his treatment of ‘big stars’

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has questioned whether Erik ten Hag has adapted properly to life at Manchester United after taking over at the club a little over a year ago.

Ten Hag replaced Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in charge of the Red Devils at the start of last season and endured a difficult start before winning the Carabao Cup and finishing third in the league table.

But this year has difficult so far both on and off the field, with the club enduring their worst ever start to a Premier League season on it, suffering four defeats in their first seven matches in the league.

They also lost their opening Champions League match and sit 10th in the league table following a 1-0 home defeat to Crystal Palace at the weekend.

Ibrahimovic, who played for both United and Ten Hag’s former side Ajax, queried whether the Dutchman has noticed the difference between the two clubs since his move while speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored

He questioned whetehr Ten Hag (right) has noticed the differences between United and his old club Ajax

The now-retired Ibrahimovic played for both United (left) and Ajax (right during his career)

‘Coming from Ajax to United as he did is a big difference. I have been in both clubs,’ he began. ‘You have a different kind of discipline.

‘Ajax is a talented club. They have the best talents in the club. They don’t have big stars. What is the experience of this coach? Young talents, he comes to United, it is a different mentality.

‘The players there are supposed to be big stars. I don’t think you give the same treatment.

‘How much time do you give a coach? It depends on the owners, what they want, but if you listen to the fans, you don’t have a lot of time because they want to win, and I understand them because they are used to winning and they want to still win.’

The former forward, who is now 41 and retired at the end of last season, also referenced Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo when discussing Ten Hag’s relationships with big players.

Sancho remains a United player but is currently unavailable for selection after a public falling out with his manager after his training performances were called into question.

He slo questioned Ten Hag’s handling of Cristiano Ronaldo (left) and Jadon Sancho (middle)

United are enduring their worst ever start to a Premier League season with four defeats in their opening seven games

Ronaldo, meanwhile, spent a few months playing under Ten Hag before publicly criticising the club and moving the Saudi Arabia.

‘You need a plan, you need a project to follow,’ Ibrahimovic said. ‘It feels like you follow a project plan and then it goes wild in a moment because of the results.

‘Either you believe in it or you don’t believe in it. But with the situation of the coach, I think he is living two different situations now. 

‘Then obviously what happened with Sancho and Cristiano, I don’t know.

‘When things are good, there are still errors and problems, but you don’t see it because we are winning.’