Manchester United have sacked manager Erik ten Hag following the club’s lacklustre start to the season, the fallen Premier League giants announced Monday.
United dropped to a lowly 14th in the table after suffering their fourth defeat in nine league games at West Ham on Sunday, with a club statement saying: “Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager.”
Ten Hag was dismissed after Sunday’s 2-1 Premier League defeat against West Ham United. He had his contract extended in the summer but managed just four wins from 13 games to start the new season.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over on an interim basis and is expected to be in charge for the Carabao Cup tie against Leicester City at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
The soccer club confirmed that former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach “whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.” The decision brings an end to months of speculation about Ten Hag’s future at Manchester United.
The Dutch coach, who won two domestic trophies during his two-and-a-half-year tenure at the club, was dismissed after the club lost 2-1 to West Ham at the weekend.
The result marked Manchester United’s fourth loss in just nine Premier League games and leaves the club 14th in the table, 12 points behind league leaders and arch-rivals Manchester City and seven points above the relegation zone.
Shares of Manchester United, which is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, rose 3% in premarket trading.
The decision to dismiss Ten Hag will be regarded as one of the most significant moves since British petrochemicals billionaire and Ineos Chief Executive Jim Ratcliffe completed a deal to buy a minority stake in Manchester United.
READ ALSO: Mauricio Pochettino Set to Become USA Head Coach
Ratcliffe finalized an agreement in February to purchase a 27.7% stake in the club. The Glazer family, which has owned Manchester United since 2005, retain a majority stake under the terms of the deal. However, the agreement allowed Ratcliffe’s Ineos Group to take control of soccer operations at the club.
Manchester United is recognized as one of the world’s most popular and successful sports teams, but the storied club has endured a torrid time in recent years.
The club, which holds the record for the most Premier League titles with 13, has not won the domestic top-flight title since the departure of manager Alex Ferguson in 2013.
The 54-year-old’s position had been repeatedly called into question after United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe kept the former Ajax boss onboard following an internal review of his position at the end of last season after an eighth-place Premier League finish.
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.
“Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao 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.” However, he failed to find the solutions to many of his side’s struggles from last season.
Former Ajax boss Ten Hag, who joined United in May 2022, 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 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 several embarrassing results.
United crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage after defeats by Galatasaray and FC Copenhagen, while Bournemouth, Brighton, and Fulham were among the other sides to win at Old Trafford in the 2023/2024 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 unraveled in the opening weeks of the new season.
Liverpool and Tottenham coasted to 3-0 wins at Old Trafford in September, while United failed to win either of their opening two Europa League matches against FC Twente and Porto.
For all 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 departed 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.
According to information revealed, United bosses made the decision to sack Ten Hag after losing faith that the Dutchman would be able to turn things around after a poor start to the new campaign. After earning just 11 points from nine league games, there are already concerns that United are too far adrift to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Results and performances in the Premier League at the end of last season were also taken into account. United finished eighth in the table last season and are languishing in 14th after defeat at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Ten Hag was kept on in the summer after leading United to a surprise 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
The decision followed an extensive end-of-season review during which club bosses, including new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, held talks with a number of different candidates.
But despite conversations with potential replacements, Ratcliffe and his INEOS team decided to keep Ten Hag in his job and extend his contract until June 2026.
Van Nistelrooy, who played for United between 2002 and 2006, arrived as part of a revamped backroom staff along with former Go Ahead Eagles manager Rene Hake.
Hake is set to stay at Old Trafford to support Van Nistelrooy in his caretaker role. Van Nistelrooy has a year of managerial experience with Dutch side PSV Eindhoven and left his role in 2023 after leading PSV to success in the Dutch cup.
