Manchester United has sacked manager Erik ten Hag due to the club’s disappointing start to the season.
Ten Hag’s final game in charge was a 2-1 loss to West Ham on Sunday, which left the team in 14th place in the Premier League, with only three wins in their first nine games.
In the Europa League, they are ranked 21st out of 36 teams, having drawn all three opening matches. Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined as Ten Hag’s assistant last summer, has been appointed interim manager while the club looks for a permanent head coach.
According to club sources, the decision to part ways with Ten Hag was a challenging yet collected one, with the board notifying him on Monday morning.
United had triggered a one-year extension in Ten Hag’s contract following their FA Cup final victory over Manchester City in May.
Ten Hag has been dismissed just over three months later, with the team facing its second-worst start to a Premier League season.
United is now looking to appoint its sixth full-time manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013.
The former Ajax manager took charge in 2022, leading United to a third-place finish in the Premier League and securing the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Newcastle in his first season.
He also led the team to the FA Cup final, where they narrowly lost to Manchester City. Despite finishing at the bottom of their Champions League group in his second season, United won the FA Cup final against Manchester City, giving Ten Hag a chance to work within a new sporting structure established under British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, who assumed control of United’s football operations early this year.
Ratcliffe previously noted that United’s issues were rooted beyond just managerial changes, pointing to an environment that has seen multiple coaches fail to find success.
Following Ratcliffe’s investment, Ineos took over the club’s football operations, appointing Dan Ashworth as sporting director, Omar Berrada as chief executive, and Jason Wilcox as technical director.
Although Ten Hag’s unexpected FA Cup success last season provided him a fresh opportunity, inconsistent results and performances since then failed to meet expectations.
United’s leadership, hoping for stability amid significant organisational changes, decided to make this change, emphasising that they saw no justification for the team’s current struggles.
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