'No guarantee anyone else would have done better than Ten Hag'

BBC Sport's chief football news reporter Simon Stone is answering your Manchester United related questions.

PS asked: Hi Simon, the two people most responsible for hiring and firing managers at Manchester United, chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Dan Ashworth, were presumably not part of the decision to stick with Erik ten Hag as they joined after.

Do you think it would have been a different decision if those two were involved? And would it have a bearing on Ten Hag's future now?

Simon replied: "When I – along with a few other journalists – spoke to Berrada and Ashworth on the morning of the Liverpool game, they said they played no part in the decision to keep Ten Hag but were supportive of it. We have no choice other than to take those comments at face value.

The key issue is who would have replaced Ten Hag? United resolved there was no-one around who was better. Would Berrada and Ashworth have unearthed someone United had not already looked at? That seems doubtful to me.

A senior executive at another Premier League club told me in the summer that no managerial appointment was without risk. You can only do your due diligence, make what you feel is an honest decision and hope it works out. Ten Hag had just won the FA Cup, thrillingly, against Manchester City.

There is no guarantee anyone else would have done any better this season.