Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag following the club’s poor start to the season.
Radarpedia – Man Utd sack manager Ten Hag – Ten Hag’s last game was Sunday’s 2-1 loss at West Ham. With only three wins in their first nine games, the club was 14th in the Premier League.
United is also 21st out of 36 teams in the Europa League table after drawing their first three games.
As of now, Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club as Ten Hag’s deputy last summer, is in charge.
The team said that Van Nistelrooy would be in charge “until a permanent head coach is hired.”
The choice was made in person on Monday morning at the club’s Carrington training ground, where Ten Hag met with CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth.
Sources inside the club said that this was a tough choice that was made by everyone.
“Thanks for everything, boss,” wrote Bruno Fernandes, the captain of United, on Instagram.
“I appreciate the trust and the moments we share together, I wish you all the best in the future.”
Ten Hag’s contract was extended by one year by the club after their win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May, but he was fired just over three months later.
United has 11 points after nine games, which is their second-lowest number of points in the Premier League (they had 10 points at this point in the 2019–20 season).
Since Sir Alex Ferguson left the club in 2013, they are now looking for their sixth permanent boss.
Ten Hag, 54, took over in the summer of 2022 and led the club to third place in the Premier League in his first season. He had previously been the manager of Ajax.
He also led United to their first trophy in six years, a 2-0 win over Newcastle United in the 2023 Carabao Cup final. They lost 2-1 to Manchester City in the FA Cup final to finish in second place.
His second season in charge got off to a bad start when United finished last in their Champions League group in the fall. However, they won a prize when they beat Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
When British millionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe bought 27.7% of the club for £1.25bn in February of this year, he told BBC Sport that the problems at the club were not just the manager’s fault.
“In the past 11 years, Manchester United have had a lot of coaches and nobody has been successful in that environment,” Ratcliffe said. “That says to me there is something wrong with the environment.”
Because United has only won one of their last eight games in all competitions, they had a bad start to the season and the board had to do something.
As soon as Ratcliffe’s interest was confirmed, Ineos took over football operations at Old Trafford and quickly started to reorganize. Dan Ashworth was named sporting director, Omar Berrada became CEO, and Jason Wilcox was named technical director.
Because of how United’s unexpected FA Cup win last season, Ten Hag was given the chance to work in a different sports environment. However, neither the results nor the efforts have been good enough this season or last.
The people in charge of the club wanted things to stay the same during a time of big change, but they haven’t seen the growth and progress they were hoping for, and sources say there are no good reasons for what is happening now.
How much has Ten Hag spent?
It was coming’ – best of the reaction
Fernandes, who was appointed club captain by Ten Hag in 2023, urged supporters to remember the good times.
“Even knowing the last period hasn’t been great from all of us I hope you fans can keep with you the good things the manager has done for our club,” Fernandes added on social media.
Former Manchester United captain Gary Neville said Ten Hag’s sacking felt inevitable.
“It was coming,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“Tottenham [3-0 home defeat] looked like the kind of game I have seen before. It was a bad day for Manchester United and a bad one for Erik ten Hag. It’s got worse and missing chances [on Sunday] was unacceptable.
“The big shock for me is how bad they have been with the new signings. That they are in 14th is unacceptable. I was hoping it would end differently, and that the faith shown would pay off, but it was not to be.”
Former England and United captain Rio Ferdinand said Van Nistelrooy’s appointment as interim manager was a “dream case scenario”.
“He (Van Nistelrooy) won’t say that, but this has played out the best way possible for him,” Ferdinand said.
“He comes in, in the background, denying any kind of knowledge of wanting to be the manager, any desire to be the manager, thinking: ‘if this guy lets up, if he doesn’t produce, I’m sitting in the wings waiting to take over’.
“He’s got a calming authority. I’ve seen him in the camp. The players like him, they respect him, I’ve spoken with a number of the players and they’ve loved working with him so far.”
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker said the club has been a “bit of a shambles” since Ratcliffe’s investment.
“They seemed to go for Thomas Tuchel but he didn’t take the job, then they subsequently went back to Ten Hag,” Lineker told The Rest is Football podcast.
“I suppose there was a degree of eventuality about this.”
Newcastle legend Alan Shearer agreed with Neville that the dismissal was inevitable.
The former England striker said: “We were just waiting for it to happen. Even the way he was talking that ‘we’re all on the same page’.
“Well, they weren’t really on the same page because everyone knew they were talking to managers in the summer.
“If they’re on the same page why on earth are they speaking to managers in the summer? As soon as that came out we all said he was a dead man walking, unfortunately.”
How did we get here?
Ten Hag’s first season at Old Trafford was a success.
After successive defeats by Brighton and Brentford in his first two matches in charge, Ten Hag grew into the role.
Victory against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final ended the club’s six-year silverware drought, while they were beaten in the FA Cup final by Manchester City.
A third-place finish in the league was seen as a platform to build on but Ten Hag’s second season was dismal. United ended eighth – their lowest position in the 32-year history of the Premier league
June’s FA Cup final victory against rivals Manchester City salvaged Ten Hag’s position, with the club deciding to stick with him following an end-of-season review.
Emboldened by his contract extension, Ten Hag continually said that he was “on the same page” as the club’s board.
But results did not match Ten Hag’s rhetoric.
After an opening weekend win against Fulham at Old Trafford, United were beaten by a last-minute Brighton goal.
Victory against newly-promoted Southampton followed but a dismal 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham on 29 September came after draws against Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Twente in the Europa League.
The pressure on Ten Hag’s position was building before the October international break and Ratcliffe was present at Villa Park as United drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.
The club’s board met during the international break and provided no update on Ten Hag’s future, insisting nothing had changed.
But one win in the three matches since has forced the hand of United’s owners, bringing to an end the Dutchman’s two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.
