All eyes are on Manchester United and Erik ten Hag during the international break as the heat is turned up yet again at Old Trafford. Having failed to win either of his games in a vital week, there is serious pressure over his future.

After a heavy defeat to Tottenham at the end of September – a second straight 3-0 loss at home – United were only able to earn draws from Europa League and Premier League meetings at Porto and Aston Villa. It has left Ten Hag seemingly on the brink as support from fans wanes.

The Dutchman survived an in-depth review earlier this year having delivered an eighth place finish in the Premier League. Ten Hag did win the FA Cup last season, making it two domestic cups in each of his campaigns in charge.

Here, the Manchester Evening News has the latest on Ten Hag and his possible exit from Manchester United.

Senior figures meet

A group of United’s executives met in London on Tuesday, leaving at slightly before 5pm. Seen in Knightsbridge at Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s offices, a key collection of decision-makers were in attendance.

Joel Glazer, Omar Berrada, Dan Ashworth, Jason Wilcox, Jean-Claude Blanc, and the less publicly seen Collette Roche (chief operating officer) and Roger Bell (chief financial officer) were all there. Ratcliffe himself was spotted alongside Sir Dave Brailsford, pictured by Sky Sports News cameras in central London.

Although the meeting was regularly scheduled, footballing performance is always discussed. It comes after some of the board members and directors were in attendance for United’s fifth match in a row without victory on Sunday against Aston Villa.

Having already been in the diary for some time – Ratcliffe wants close communication on a consistent basis – it shouldn’t be seen as a response to the poor form under Ten Hag. His position is once more expected to have been a topic of conversation though after the summer’s wider-scale review.

New coach found

As part of Ineos’ plans at Old Trafford they have continued to be active in their attempts to bring new blood to the club. Now, with Ten Hag under scrutiny, another youth hire has reportedly been made.

According to the Sun, Salford City coach Simon Wiles will join the academy setup as Under-16 boss. It was announced last week that he would be leaving the club owned by United’s Class of 92 group ‘for an opportunity with a Premier League club.’

Gary Neville is among those who have a say on things at Salford. So too do Phil Neville, Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt, David Beckham, and Paul Scholes. Wiles has previously worked at Fleetwood Town having played in midfield at Blackpool and Macclesfield Town in his playing days.

United’s youth system is currently thriving. That has helped Ten Hag so far as he integrates teenagers into the senior squad.

What Ten Hag is doing

Ten Hag has made the decision to leave England for at least a portion of the international break, the Mirror reports, with a belief that he is still the man for the job. Over the summer he was on holiday during the crisis talks, waiting to be made part of discussions.

After the stalemate at Villa Park he insisted that he had the backing of the owners regardless. “We are all on board together, on one page,” he said. “We know where we are working to: it’s a long-term project and we have to keep improving the process.”

He added: “Internally we are disappointed and we know we need to do better; especially we need to score more because after this block of games that’s the area we’re really short.

“All the other areas we’re doing really well. We have to be more ruthless, more clinical, more of a killer instinct. We have to work on this.”