Michael Owen has insisted Manchester United fire Erik ten Hag and appoint Steve McClaren as interim manager until the end of the season.
United delivered another dismal performance under Ten Hag on Monday evening, when they were defeated 4-0 Crystal Palace in Selhurst Park.
There is increasing speculation about Ten Hag's future at Old Trafford. although the Dutchman was adamant after the loss to Palace that he remains the right man to lead the side next season.
But Owen believes United must make a 'radical' change to save their season and believes McClaren, who is currently Ten Hag's assistant, could improve the team for the remaining three Premier League games against Arsenal, Newcastle United and Brighton, plus the FA Cup final against Manchester City on May 25.
“I've been saying it for a long time that Ten Hag is not the right man for this job, I've been saying it for centuries and centuries,” Owen said. Premier League Productions after United's defeat to Palace.
'He simply cannot lead the team next season.
'I'm almost wondering now: they have a cup final and they have a few important matches that could mean European football next year or not.
“At some point you have to make a decision, they will absolutely be hammered by it Manchester city [in the FA Cup final]they will in fact be destroyed, Arsenal I'll smash them to bits at Old Trafford, Newcastle will probably beat them and I wouldn't even want them to Brighton or. If they play like this, they might not get anything out of the rest of the season.
'I just wonder that there is so much at stake, even if it is only for four games. I wonder if maybe the board should try to do something here and now and be quite radical about it.
'He simply cannot lead this team next season. He's not good enough. I've been thinking about it for a while, but he's just not good enough to manage Manchester United.'
Meanwhile, Paul Scholes, who worked alongside Owen as a pundit, described United's defeat to Palace as 'the final nail in the coffin' for Ten Hag's reign at Old Trafford.
“It's been a tough one, I know Michael says he's felt it for a long time and the signs are there that it's going to be tough for him to do it next year,” Scholes said.
'But tonight actually felt like the final nail in the coffin.
'There was a lack of know-how in the team, a lack of commitment, that's the big disappointment.
'It felt like the end. If this is the end, I'm not sure what is at this point.
'I had the feeling that he might get another year and work for a club that has calmed down a bit under the new owners, but it just doesn't feel that way now.
'Who was there to replace him? There wasn't really anyone there. With Thomas Tuchel saying he is leaving Bayern Munich, I don't think this creates a bigger problem for him because I think the problems are already there anyway. It's pretty clear to see that it feels like borrowed time.
“When you watch that performance tonight, sometimes you get those performances where you think, 'This is the end.' It almost felt that way. I remember Ole Gunnar [Solskjaer] away from Watford. It felt very similar to me, it just fell at the end.
'But what do you do in the last four games? You have a big cup final. You can't see where a win comes from. They can't beat Burnley at home.'
When it was suggested that Ten Hag's assistant Steve McClaren could take over, Owen replied: 'They have to try something different. Something. Yes.'
Owen also expressed doubt about McClaren's current impact on the United team within Ten Hag's coaching setup.
“We played under Steve McClaren, he coached us, there's no way his fingerprints are anywhere near that team,” Owen said.
“He's a brilliant, brilliant coach and that team is not coached at all. Steve McClaren is definitely not the first-team coach.”
Scholes then added: 'It suggests he's not touching that team. The manager [Ten Hag] I don't think he should let him touch that team.
'Everyone thinks we were a great team attacking everyone and going at people, sometimes we played against better teams and Steve McClaren put on better sessions to make sure you stopped other teams, got the distances right, got the angles right, especially in the center midfield, all over the midfield.
'And he has no impression of that [Ten Hag] team anyway. He's the best coach I've ever had.”
Owen then said of McClaren: 'He's a brilliant, brilliant coach. There's no way he has anything to do with coaching that team. It's impossible. Because that team has absolutely no idea, through it. There isn't one thing that I think works on that team. I don't judge anything about it.
'Steve McClaren is a top player and all I can think is that he is there and there are other people coaching the first team and he is just a bystander.'
Asked if he would like to see McClaren manage United for the final four games, Owen said: “For four games, yeah… whatever.
“They're going to be thrown out of the ball field if every team plays like that today.
'Manchester City are going to demoralize them at Wembley in front of millions of people, it's just shameful the way they are playing, something has to change. I know it's going to change in the summer, but I think it needs to change now. Next year there will be European football, this is a trophy.'
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