Manchester United have finally decided to sack Erik Ten Hag as they are placed in the bottom half of the Premier League points table at the moment. Ten Hag’s time at United was full of controversies, but he somehow managed to retain his job at the start of the season. Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe showed his support towards him despite a poor start to the campaign, but the loss against West Ham forced him to finally hit the panic button as Ten Hag faced the axe from the club.
The Dutch manager came to Manchester United with a reputation for being a master tactician who guided the golden team of Ajax to the Champions League semifinal in the 2018–19 season. He took over the charge from interim manager Ralf Ragnick in 2022. He guided the Red Devils to two domestic trophies – Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.
Timeline of Erik Ten Hag’s time at Manchester United
April 21, 2022: Manchester United appointed Ten Hag as their manager starting from the end of the 2021–22 season until June 2025, with the option of extending for a further year.
July 31, 2022: Ten Hag criticised club legend Cristiano Ronaldo after he left early during Manchester United’s pre-season friendly with Rayo Vallecano, along with some other team-mates. The Dutch manager was not impressed with Ronaldo’s attitude and called his decision to leave the ground early “not acceptable”.
August 2023, 2022: The Dutch manager asked the club to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona, but the latter was unwilling to go to Old Trafford. As a result, Manchester United signed an ageing Casemiro for around £70m – a price tag which he has failed to do justice to.
September 01, 2022: Erik Ten Hag pushed Manchester United to sign Antony from Ajax for the entire transfer window, and they finally signed him for a whopping £85m. Antony has not made any significant impact at the club and has become a laughing stock on internet for his poor performances on the field.
October 2022: The manager boldly decided to put Ronaldo on the bench in their 6-3 loss to rivals Manchester City. The relationship between Ronaldo and Ten Hag started getting worse from there, as the former refused to enter the game as a substitute and walked down the tunnel during United’s 2-0 win over Tottenham. Three days later, the club suspended him.
November 16-17, 2022: Ronaldo, in an interview with Piers Morgan, took shots at Ten Hag and also criticised the United’s owners, the Glazer family. The Portuguese superstar got the backlash for his comments on the coach, his teammates and the owners in public.
November 22, 2022: Manchester United parted ways with Ronaldo with “immediate effect” as the sage CR7-ETH saga finally came to an end.
February 26, 2023: Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final to lift their first trophy under Ten Hag’s tenure.
May 28, 2023: In his first season as Manchester United manager, Ten Hag guided them to finish third on the Premier League points table.
July 20, 2023: Manchester United decided to part ways with David de Gea as Ten Hag was in favour of signing Andre Onana from Inter. The club completed the signing for £47.2m. They also signed Mason Mount in the same window for a whopping £60m but the English midfielder was not able to make any mark under the Dutch manager.
September 2023: Ten Hag and former Manchester United star Jadon Sancho had a falling out, which led to a public feud. The manager excluded Sancho from the squad for a match against Arsenal, citing poor training. Sancho didn’t hold back and accused Ten Hag of making him a “scapegoat” on social media.
May 19 2024: Manchester United finished their Premier League season at their eighth spot and failed to qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Ten Hag’s position was under the scanners after a disastrous season.
May 25, 2024: Ten Hag’s United registered a shocking 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final. The Dutch manager retained his job somehow.
July 4, 2024: Manchester United announced that Erik ten Hag has extended his contract as manager until June 2026.
Summer Transfer Window: Ten Hag splashed money in the window and signed the likes of Manuel Ugarte (£50.8m), Matthijs de Ligt (£43m), Leny Yoro (£52m), Joshua Zirkzee (£36m) and few others to strengthen the unit.
August 10, 2024: Manchester United lost the FA Community Shield to Manchester City on penalties.
September 1, 2024: The Red Devils suffered an embarrassing 0-3 loss to their arch-rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford in the Premier League.
September 29, 2024: The season kept getting worse for United as they also lost to Tottenham 0-3 early in the season.
October 27, 2024: Manchester United suffered another defeat as this time West Ham (2-1) got the better of them, which turned out to be Ten Hag’s final game as coach of the club.
October 28, 2024: Manchester United announced that they have parted ways with Ten Hag after a horror start to the season. Ruud van Nistelrooy was announced as the interim manager of the side.
