Manchester United Sack Erik ten Hag

With nine games of the 2024/25 English Premier season played Manchester United have sacked under pressure manager Erik ten Hag. He is the first EPL manager to be sacked this season.

A statement on the club website reads:

Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager.

Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.

We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future.

Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.

Speculation about ten Hag's ongoing survival in the role reach back into last season where the team finished eighth. It is thought that their surprise win over local rivals Manchester City in the FA cup final may have brought him a reprieve and with it the vain hope that a Sir Alex Ferguson style revival and drive to footballing greatness.

With the club still heavily indebted and languishing in fourteenth place the club have decided that geting a new manager in now, giving them the chance to work with the team before the mid-season transfer window opens, is the best option.

In all ten Hag led the team for 85 Premier League games of which he won 44, a win rate of just under 52%. The team drew 14 of those games and lost the other 27, including the final game against West Ham United.

In other competitions ten Hag led the team to success in the 22/23 season League Cup final with a 2:0 victory against Newcastle United, and as mentioned they defeated Manchester City 2:1 in the 23/24 season FA Cup final.

The 22/23 season saw the club play in the Europa League and five victories to One loss in the group stage saw them advance to play Barcelona. A 2:2 draw at the Bernabeu set up the home leg and United sealed a 2:1 victory to win and raise hopes. Those hopes were further boosted by home and away wins against Real Betis, but a home draw and away loss against Sevilla saw the team fall at the quarter final stage.

With a 3rd place finish in the 22/23 season United played in the Champions League and were in a group with Bayern Munich, Galatasaray, and FC Copenhagen. A slender 1:0 home win against FC Copenhagen and 3:3 away draw with Galatasary were the only point they scored in the 6 group matches and they finished bottom of the group.

In this seasons Europa League they have drawn the three games played.

My feeling is there is a mismatch between how ten Hag and Manchester United wished his role to operate. The generational influence of Sir Alex Ferguson, a member of the club's board, continues to lay like a heavy shroud on every manager the team employs and I'm not sure that the club have found a way to seek success without that success being an attempt to emulate the clubs greatest manager. Beyond that the heavy debt burden the Glazers piled on the club means there is little room for a poor season.

While the ten Hag tenure has seen over half-a-billion pounds spent on transfers there are rumors that he has not always been happy with how recruitment has been handled.

Ruud van Nistelroy takes over team duties for at least the next game and I imagine that will be the case until a new appointment is made. Who is that likely to be?

The likelihood of a marquee signing are slim as the clubs position makes them a less than appealing prospect. That being said my own team, Aston Villa, secured Unai Emery and we are flying.

There will be someone willing to take on the potential of Manchester United. Who, and how they deal with the weight of expectation and struggling team, will be interesting to watch.

text by stuartcturnbull, picture from Getty Images via BBC