Who Will be the Replacement of Eric ten Hag?: English club Manchester United has sacked their manager Erik Ten Hag as the side now looks to replace the Dutchman. This comes following their 2-1 loss to West Ham last Sunday.
Manchester United Sacks Erik Ten Hag
Ten Hag’s time at United has been tumultuous since Day 1. He came in to replace Talf Rangnick, who had a troubled stint at Old Trafford himself. He got the United job in April 2022 after a very successful stint with Ajax.
The club found some success in his first full season in Manchester. In 2022-23, he finished third in the Premier League, which was good considering how better Manchester City and Arsenal were than the rest of the league, making United the best of the rest. That season, they also won the EFL Cup, which was their first major trophy since winning the UEFA Europa League in 2017.
At that point, it looked like Ten Hag had a fine plan for the future. He made several major signings in his first year or so in England, like bringing in UEFA Champions League winners Casemiro and Rafael Varane. He bought young and promising names as well, like Rasmus Hojlund, Mason Mount, and Andre Onana.
But it all fell off a cliff in the 2023–24 season. Having qualified for the UCL, they finished fourth in a group that they should have been in the top two in. The poor showing meant they would not even fall into the Europa League.
It was also a generationally poor season in the league as well, where they just got 60 points and finished eighth, which is the English giants’ worst finish in the Premier League, as it was back in the 1989-90 first division season when they finished 13th.
But there was a saving grace in that season, as Manchester United won the FA Cup for the first time since 2016, even defeating cross-city rivals Manchester City in the final. This win not only brought a major trophy for the club for the second year in a row but also saved Erik Ten Hag’s job after the poor Premier League finish.
However, there was a lot of optimism before the 2023–24 season. The 54-year-old looked to overhaul the squad and bought a lot of young players, like striker Joshua Zirkzee, midfielder Manuel Ugarte, and defender Leny Yoro. He also bought proven European commodities in Bayern Munich defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui. And while they did lose the Community Shield to Man City, they took the Cityzens to penalties.
The Red Devils even won their opening PL game 1-0 against Fulham. But the wheels came off the wagon in the second week of the season, when they lost 2-1 against Brighton, conceding a goal in injury time. Then came a 3-0 defeat against Liverpool, and all the optimism flew out the window. Massive wins over Southampton in the league and Barnsley in the EFL Cup were followed by a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace, a 1-1 draw against Twente in the Europa League, and a 3-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspurs.
Reports and speculation around Erik ten Hag being sacked started within a month of the start of the season. Two more draws in the Europa League have stranded United at 21st in the table. But it is worse in the PL, where they are currently 14th after three wins, four losses, and just 11 points in nine matches.
Things came to a head on Sunday, October 27, as United faced West Ham at the London Stadium. The Hammers scored first in the 74th minute, but Casemiro equalized in the 81st. But then, in the 90th minute, de Ligt conceded a penalty, which was scored by Jarrod Brown, as West Ham defeated Manchester United 2-1.
Who Will be the Replacement of Eric ten Hag?
This was the final straw for Ten Hag, who was fired within 24 hours of that loss. The question now remains: who will the Red Devils pick to replace him? While club legend Ruud van Nistelrooy has been picked as the interim manager, the likes of Graham Potter and Xavi are in contention for the job. Whoever gets it will have to save a sinking ship that is United’s 2024-25 season.
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