Manchester United has announced the dismissal of coach Erik ten Hag following a disastrous start to the season that has left them far from the top positions in the Premier League. Despite winning two domestic cups during his tenure, the team has performed poorly, losing four of the first nine league matches and sitting in 14th place. Painful home defeats against rivals like Liverpool and Tottenham put Ten Hag in a compromised position, and the 2-1 loss to West Ham on Sunday was his last match in charge.
United has barely won one of its last eight matches across all competitions, prompting the club to decide to fire Ten Hag as the first team's head coach. Ruud van Nistelrooy, a former club striker and assistant to Ten Hag, will take over as interim manager while a permanent replacement is sought.
Among the possible successors are names like Graham Potter and Xavi Hernandez, who have previous experience at Chelsea and Barcelona respectively. Ten Hag, coming from Ajax, arrived at Manchester United with the task of restoring glory to a club that has been in decline since Alex Ferguson's departure in 2013. Despite winning the League Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup this year, the team still shows no significant improvements in league performance and is lagging 12 points behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier.
The club has struggled to establish a clear playing identity under Ten Hag and has been vulnerable to conceding goals in the final minutes of matches. After an unexpected victory in the FA Cup final against City in May, Ten Hag managed to remain in charge after thorough analysis of his management. However, recent poor results led the board to make the difficult decision to part ways with him. The new leaders, led by minority owner Jim Ratcliffe, were not satisfied with the results achieved during Ten Hag's tenure despite the considerable spending on signings since his arrival at the club. Ratcliffe, a British billionaire, has taken control of United's football operations, implementing changes in the management structure in recent months to try to turn the team's situation around.
