Erik Ten Hag became the first English top flight manager to be sacked in the 24/25 season as Manchester United officially decided to part ways with the Dutch gaffer following a 2-1 loss away at West Ham which left the Red Devils a lowly 14th in the league table.
Many fans have probably been waiting for Erik ten Hag to leave United for a year now. But why is there so much hostility? United are historically one of the Premier League’s big clubs, and the large amounts of investment in the transfer market means that fans demand instant results. Modern football is a demanding, cut-throat job- none more than in the Premier League.
Sporting’s Ruben Amorim is likely to be Ten Hag’s replacement. He is highly regarded as one of the best upcoming young managers in Europe, but then so was Ten Hag when he arrived at Old Trafford from Ajax.
The 1xBet India website, like other bookmakers, has long odds on United to even finish in the top four this season; let alone being contenders for the title. The Red Devils have had a disappointing start to the league season, seem way off the pace, are already 12 points behind the league leaders, and we’re not even a quarter of the way into the 24/25 season.
Performance Issues in the Premier League and the EL
United have won only three games in the Premier League all season so far. They were against Fulham, Southampton and Brentford (see below)- not really big names in the context of the league as a whole. There were embarrassing losses at Old Trafford against the likes of Liverpool and Spurs- both fixtures where United were clearly outclassed by league rivals.
The Red Devils had won only one of their last eight across all competitions and were struggling to find the back of the net, averaging less than a goal a game in the competition.
And things weren’t going well in the Europa League either. In their first match, United drew at home with lowly Dutch side Twente. In the second game against Porto, they allowed FCP to first come from 2:0 down and then take the lead. Fortunately, defender Harry Maguire rescued a point for his team at the end. Fenerbahce was another example of failure to take full points, and it was a game which bizarrely had a defender playing the 10 role. And this is Europe’s second tier competition- not the Champions League. United had struggled in the CL too under Ten Hag, but that’s a story for another time.
Transfers
Even if we touch on the topic of transfers and the players themselves, things weren’t rosy for Ten Hag. Under the Dutch gaffer, the club spent more than 600 million pounds on the purchase of several players (second only to Chelsea), and there were only two trophies to show for that effort- one in the form of the FA Cup and the other the League Cup, where United benefitted from rivals fielding weaker teams.
Most the players Ten Hag signed had links to his former club- Ajax, and haven’t quite justified the transfer fee spent. Antony for example, has struggled to adjust to life at Old Trafford, and there’s talk of him being allowed to depart for a lower price in January.
Jadon Sancho, a prodigious talent and a success at Borussia Dortmund, was another that struggled to adjust to Ten Hag’s system, and he was eventually shipped out to rivals Chelsea, where he now seems to be flourishing under new Blues coach Enzo Maresca.