Ten Hag says Manchester United relegation 'certainly possible' after ninth winless match

Erik ten Hag has said it is "certainly possible" that Manchester United will be relegated from the Premier League this season, after a 2-0 defeat at Chelsea on Saturday 31 October left his former club 17th and outside the bottom three only on goal difference.

The loss at Stamford Bridge was United's ninth consecutive match without a win in all competitions. They have seven points from nine league games, and a club that has not been relegated from the top flight since 1974 is now looking down the table rather than up it.

Ten Hag, who managed United from April 2022 until November 2024, was speaking to the ESPN Netherlands programme Goedemorgen Eredivisie, according to ESPN. He did not soften the message.

"In the Premier League it's certainly possible, because all the teams are simply strong," he said, as reported by the New Straits Times, citing Reuters. "They're all strong squads, all good managers. And if you end up on the wrong side once and you really get into that vicious circle – yes, then it can become very, very difficult."

A run with few precedents

The scale of the slump is best understood through the numbers. Michael Carrick has overseen a nine-match winless sequence of three draws and six defeats, and Opta described it as United's longest without a victory since 1984, according to Reuters. BBC Sport called it the club's most difficult stretch since the 1988-89 season.

beIN SPORTS reported that United are in their joint-lowest position at least nine matches into a season since 1989-90, when they also sat 17th.

The build-up to the Chelsea game had already been grim. United lost 3-0 at home to Bournemouth and 4-1 away to Como, and according to the New Straits Times the board decided to keep Carrick in charge for the trip to Stamford Bridge despite those results. The response was another defeat without a goal.

Seven points from nine is not a margin that offers much comfort. With goal difference the only thing separating United from 18th, a single bad afternoon could drop them into the relegation zone, and the next two league opponents, Aston Villa and Liverpool according to ESPN, are not the kind of fixtures that usually relieve pressure.

Ten Hag's defence of his own record

Ten Hag's comments carried an edge. He won the Carabao Cup in 2022-23 and the FA Cup in 2023-24 during his time at United, and he made clear he believes that period compares favourably with what has followed.

"Before we arrived, six years without winning a trophy. Look where they are now," he said, according to the New Straits Times.