Manchester United sack Erik ten Hag, Ruud van Nistelrooy takes interim charge

LONDON – Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag following the club’s lacklustre start to the season, the fallen English Premier League giants announced on Oct 28.

United dropped to a lowly 14th in the table after suffering their fourth defeat in nine league games at West Ham United on Oct 27 and have won only one of their last eight games in all competitions.

“Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager,” said a club statement.

“Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the League 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.”

United added former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who returned to the club as ten Hag’s assistant in July, would now serve as interim manager “while a permanent head coach is recruited”.

Van Nistelrooy has only one season of experience as the coach of a senior side, having led PSV Eindhoven to the Dutch Cup in 2022-23.

Even before the West Ham loss, Dutch manager ten Hag had presided over United’s worst start to an English top-flight campaign since the 1989-90 season.

A return of eight goals in their first nine games is United’s worst in the Premier League era.

No team in the division have underperformed their expected goals statistics more this season.

His position had been repeatedly called into question after United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe kept the former Ajax Amsterdam boss on board following an internal review of his position at the end of last season, after finishing eighth in the Premier League.

Ten Hag was even rewarded with a one-year extension of his contract to June 2026 after a shock FA Cup final victory over rivals Manchester City in May.

However, he failed to find the solutions to many of his side’s struggles from last season.

The 54-year-old had fiercely defended his record in recent weeks after winning two trophies in his two full seasons in charge.

United ended a six-year wait for silverware by beating Newcastle United in the 2023 League Cup final.

The Red Devils also reached the FA Cup final and finished third in the Premier League in an encouraging debut season for ten Hag.

However, the wheels came off in his second season as injuries to key players, the lack of a meaningful impact from big-money signings and ten Hag’s failure to implement a clear style of play led to a number of embarrassing results.

The Red Devils spent over £600 million (S$1.03 billion) on new players since he took charge ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

United crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage after defeats by Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen, while Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion and Fulham were among the other sides to win at Old Trafford in the 2023-24 campaign.

The implementation of a new sporting structure at United, spearheaded by co-owner Ratcliffe, saw widespread change over recent months off the field with the appointment of a new chief executive, sporting director and technical director.

But ten Hag’s surprise victory over Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering City side at Wembley in the FA Cup final saw him handed a stay of execution.

Any hope United’s FA Cup glory could act as a launching pad to more regular success quickly unravelled in the opening weeks of the new season.

Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur coasted to 3-0 victories at Old Trafford in September.

In addition, the Red Devils failed to win either of their opening two Europa League matches against FC Twente and Porto.

For all of ten Hag’s faults, he oversaw just a small period of United’s more general decline since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Since the Scot’s departure from the Old Trafford hot seat, five permanent managers have now been dismissed without United even posing a challenge for the Premier League title – a trophy they won 13 times under Ferguson. AFP