The struggling Premier League giants Manchester United announced Monday that they had fired manager Erik ten Hag because the team had a bad start to the season.
United fell to 14th place in the table after losing to West Ham on Sunday, their fourth loss in nine league games. In all competitions, they have only won one of their last eight games.
This is what the club said: “Erik ten Hag has left his job as Manchester United men’s first-team manager.”
He was hired in April 2022 and led the team to two local titles, the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
“Erik did a great job while he was here, and we appreciate it and wish him the best in the future.”
United said that former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the team again in July as Ten Hag’s assistant, would take over as interim manager “until a permanent head coach is found.”
Ten Hag, the Dutch manager, had United off to their worst start to an English Premier League season since the 1989–90 season, even before their loss to West Ham.
After United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, co-owner Jim Ratcliffe kept the former Ajax manager on board after an internal review of his job. The 54-year-old’s job had been called into question many times.
Ten Hag was even given a one-year extension on his deal until June 2026 after taking Manchester City to a shock in the FA Cup final in May.
He didn’t figure out how to fix many of his team’s problems from last season, though.
Ten Hag, who took over as manager of Ajax and then joined United in May 2022, has been very proud of his record lately. He won two titles in two full seasons as manager.
United won their first trophy in six years when they beat Newcastle in the 2023 League Cup final.
In Ten Hag’s first season, the Red Devils did well. They made it to the FA Cup final and came third in the Premier League.
But things went wrong in Ten Hag’s second season because key players got hurt, big-money signings didn’t make a difference, and Ten Hag couldn’t set a clear style of play. This led to a number of embarrassing losses.
United was knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage after losing to Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen. In the 2023–2024 season, only Bournemouth, Brighton, and Fulham won at Old Trafford.
United’s co-owner Ratcliffe led the way in putting in place a new sports system. In the past few months, a lot has changed off the field, with a new CEO, sporting director, and technical director being hired.
Ten Hag was supposed to be put to death, but his surprise win over Pep Guardiola’s unbeatable City team at Wembley in the FA Cup final got him some time off.
In the first few weeks of the new season, United quickly lost any hope that their FA Cup win could lead to more regular success.
In September, Liverpool and Tottenham both easily beat Old Trafford by 3-0 scores. United, on the other hand, lost their first two Europa League games against FC Twente and Porto.
Even though Ten Hag made mistakes, he only managed United for a short time during their general decline since the retirement of famous manager Alex Ferguson in 2013.
Since Ferguson left his job at Old Trafford, five regular managers have been fired, but United still hasn’t even been in the running for the Premier League title, which they won 13 times under Ferguson.
AFP
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