Poor start to the season behind the Dutchman’s dismissal
Many Manchester United fans around the world have had their prayers fulfilled after first-team head coach Erik Ten Hag was fired. Following a disastrous start to the 2024/25 season, the club issued a statement on Monday, October 28, 2024, confirming that the Dutch manager would no longer be in charge of the team.
Ten Hag was named Manchester United manager in April 2022, following a successful five-year tenure at Ajax, where he led the club to three Eredivisie titles and two KNVB Cups. He also led the squad to the semi-finals of the 2018-19 UEFA Champions League, defeating defending champions Real Madrid 4-1 at the Santiago Bernabéu in the round of 16, and defeating Juventus away 1-2 after drawing the first leg 1-1 at home in the quarter-final.
Ten Hag’s appointment came at a time when the Manchester club desperately needed hope after a disastrous 2021-22 season in which United had three different managers. Given his previous success in the Netherlands, many fans and analysts believed Ten Hag would lead the rebirth of a United club that has yet to rekindle its flame since the retirement of world-renowned manager Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013.
Despite the hope he provided, particularly with his bold statement following his appointment two years ago that “Eras come to an end,” which was aimed at rivals Manchester City and Liverpool, it turned out to be a foreshadowing of his own future. Even though the end of his tenure felt inevitable, especially after the Red Devils’ 1-2 loss to West Ham United in the Premier League on Sunday, he did endure success during his tenure with the English club, where he won two domestic trophies, the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024. The achievements may have gone to his head though, because no matter how terribly the team performed or what was happening off the field, he would always seem to refer back to his silverware success with the club, a recurring act that aggravated many.
Despite his success with the club, Ten Hag’s life in Manchester will also be remembered for his poor recruitment of Brazilian winger Antony, who was becoming an expensive flop, costing the club more than £80 million to acquire him, and lest we forget his two sensational rows between Cristiano Ronaldo in his first season and Jadon Sancho in his second.
Following his departure, assistant coach Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over first-team operations on an interim basis, with backing from the current coaching staff until a search for a permanent head coach is launched. Many names have been floated as possible replacements, including Thomas Frank, Gareth Southgate, and, most recently, current Sporting CP manager Ruben Amorim, as the club looks to turn things around even though it is still early in the season.
Whoever takes over United on a full-time basis will face a daunting assignment, and it will be critical not to repeat the mistakes that the Dutchman made during his two-year tenure.
