Peter Crouch has drawn upon his own experiences of unsettled dressing rooms to send a worrying “good luck” message to Erik ten Hag ahead of his Manchester United arrival.
The United squad has appeared an unhappy one this season, with the club having a disastrous campaign on the pitch. Another loss on the road in the 3-1 defeat to Arsenal on Saturday has effectively ended United's outside top four hopes.
United fans are now calling for a revamp of the squad under Ten Hag — who will arrive at the club on a three-year deal in the summer. One of the Dutchman's primary objectives will be to restore harmony within the dressing room.
READ MORE: What the Manchester United dressing room has made of Erik ten Hag's appointment
Crouch has underlined how difficult a task this can be. Writing in the Daily Mail, the former striker said: “I have been in dressing rooms like the one at Manchester United and it very rarely ends well. You have egos becoming stronger and United feels a bit toxic.
“Attitudes and factions behind the scenes see teams spiral and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what has happened at Old Trafford. The body language, the arm-throwing, the storming off the pitch and anger at teammates, you can see it a mile off.
“From my own experience in troublesome dressing rooms, I saw little groups of players whispering and blaming others. They were pointing fingers, saying certain individuals were letting us down every week, with a lot of backstabbing and not enough looking in the mirror.
“Then there is often no faith in the manager either.” Crouch signed off: “So Erik ten Hag — good luck mate!”
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