Oct 28, 2024, 10:45 AM ET
Two and a half years after he arrived at the club in 2022, Erik ten Hag has been sacked as manager of Manchester United.
In the end, it was Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham at the London Stadium that proved terminal for Ten Hag’s reign at Old Trafford.
There won’t be many United fans who can say they didn’t see this coming. With just three victories from their first nine Premier League matches this season, United are languishing in 14th place and the midweek draw with Fenerbahce extended their winless streak in Europe beyond an entire calendar year.
But while Ten Hag’s spell at United contained more than its fair share of troughs, he is able to point to the peaks where he added two pieces of silverware to the club’s burgeoning trophy cabinet — the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup triumph over rivals Manchester City last season.
Here’s the story of Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United tenure, in pictures:
Erik ten Hag was appointed as the new head coach of Manchester United on April 21, 2022, on a three year contract, with the option of a further year. The Dutchman arrived as one of the most highly rated young coaches in Europe after leading Ajax to three Eredivisie titles in four years. He left his job at Ajax early in order to begin preparations for his first season at Old Trafford.
Ten Hag’s reign got off to a rocky start as United lost their first two matches of the 2022-23 season. The Dutchman became the first United manager since John Chapman in 1921 to lose his first two games in charge of the club. A 2-1 defeat to Brighton at Old Trafford on the opening weekend was followed by a 4-0 loss at Brentford that brought reports of simmering tension between the manager and United forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ten Hag only had to wait five months for his first taste of silverware as United manager as his side overcame Newcastle United 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley thanks to goals from Casemiro and Marcus Rashford. United also recovered from their slow start to the Premier League campaign as they went on a run of form that saw Ten Hag become the fastest United coach in history to reach 20 wins in competitive games.
Signs of United’s frailties were evident, however, and the team followed up their Carabao Cup triumph with a historic 7-0 defeat to Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool at Anfield. The result was United’s joint-heaviest defeat in the club’s history and represented the first time they had conceded seven goals in a single game since 1931.
United eventually finished third in the Premier League and the Dutchman came close to winning a domestic double in his first season at the helm. United were beaten 2-1 by local rivals Man City in the FA Cup final in June. Ilkay Gündogan’s brace — that included the fastest goal in FA Cup final history (12 seconds) — was enough to see Pep Guardiola’s men lift the trophy.
After a protracted negotiation period with the club’s majority owners, the Glazer family, British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe completed a deal to buy a 27.7% stake in United on Feb. 20, 2024. It was announced that Ratcliffe’s Ineos group would take control of the club’s football operations in a move that Ten Hag welcomed at the time, saying that he and the Ratcliffe were “very aligned” in their ambitions for the team.
Almost exactly one month later, Ten Hag secured perhaps his most famous victory as United boss: A 4-3 FA Cup quarterfinal win over Liverpool that is regarded as one of the competition’s most dramatic games. United youth product Amad Diallo’s extra-time winner snatched a memorable win for Ten Hag after Liverpool had been leading going into the 87th minute of normal time and again in the 112th minute of extra-time.
Despite their 2-0 win away at Brighton on the final day of the 2023-24 Premier League season, United ended the campaign in eighth position with 60 points for what was their worst finish in the competition’s history. United’s previous worst finish in the Premier League era was seventh under David Moyes in 2013-14. Their 14 league defeats in a single season was their highest since recording 16 in 1989-90 under Sir Alex Ferguson.
However, with his job seemingly hanging the balance, Ten Hag masterminded a miraculous victory over Man City in the 2024 FA Cup final, exacting revenge for his team’s defeat the previous season. Goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho secured Ten Hag’s second trophy in as many seasons and denied Guardiola a domestic double after Man City won their fourth consecutive Premier League title.
The FA Cup success earned Ten Hag a one-year contract extension at Old Trafford ahead of the start of the new campaign, but United failed to kick on in the Dutchman’s third season, winning just three of their first nine Premier League matches. Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to West Ham in east London proved the final straw for the club’s hierarchy who dismissed Ten Hag and announced that his assistant, legendary former United forward Ruud van Nistelrooy, would take over on an interim basis.
