There were plenty of times over the past year when Manchester United could have fired Erik ten Hag, said Will Unwin in The Guardian. The Dutchman’s position had been under “constant scrutiny” since Jim Ratcliffe purchased a 25% stake in the club.
And, prior to United’s shock FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May, there’d been a growing consensus that his time was up: he’d just guided his team to an eighth-placed finish in the Premier League, their lowest ever, and United’s top brass were known to be talking to other coaches. Yet in the event, they extended his contract, hoping that he might turn things around. This week, however, their patience finally ran out: after a dismal 2-1 defeat at West Ham that left United 14th in the league, and “fearful of another season outside the Champions League”, United sacked ten Hag and installed Ruud van Nistelrooy as interim boss.
Better late than never, said James Ducker in The Daily Telegraph. United have been going backwards under ten Hag since winning the Carabao Cup in his first season – despite his “increasingly desperate” attempts to point to the two trophies he won during his tenure as evidence of progress. Just look at their league form: in the 20 months since that first cup win, they’ve played 61 games and lost 22 of them, conceding as many goals as they scored. A series of “supposed inferiors” – Brighton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Fulham – won at Old Trafford, but ten Hag also tended to fail the toughest tests, said Richard Jolly in The Independent. United managed only one away win in 15 against the “big eight” under him; and in Europe, their record stands at one win in their past 11 games. All this, despite United having spent £600m on players since ten Hag took charge, including £82m on Antony – “pound-for-pound the worst signing in United’s history” – and £60m on the injury-plagued Mason Mount.
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It’s hard not to blame Ratcliffe for this debacle, said Martin Samuel in The Times: a man known for his “hard-nosed business instincts”, he shied away from sacking ten Hag in the summer when it was clear to all that the Dutchman should go. Ten Hag’s successor will inherit “a campaign in crisis”, with the club in danger of missing out on a Champions League place for a second season in a row.
Ten Hag was the fifth permanent manager to try to “right the ship at Old Trafford” since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, said Carl Anka on The Athletic. None have overseen a serious title challenge, and the overwhelming sense is that, in the post-Ferguson era, United have lost sight of the things that made them “the biggest and most successful club in England”. Whoever takes over from ten Hag will have to find them again – and fast.