Inside why Man United finally sacked Erik ten Hag

Manchester United have sacked Erik ten Hag just 116 days after deciding to give the Dutchman a stay of execution and hand him a new 12-month contract.

How did it unravel again so quickly? After reshaping the leadership team and coaching staff, and spending another £200million on new signings in the summer, why could Ten Hag not produce a winning team?

Mail Sport looks at the issues behind the scenes that spelled the end for the Dutchman.

Dead man walking

Although Ten Hag was spared the axe in June after Ineos carried out an end-of-season review, by speaking to potential replacements before and after United’s victory in the FA Cup final a month earlier they were always at risk of undermining the manager.

That process began again in recent weeks following United’s poor start to the season as Xavi Hernandes, Thomas Frank, Ruben Amorim and Edin Terzic were sounded out.

Ten Hag responded to the latest speculation as ‘fairytales and lies’, not believing that his employers were going behind his back for a second time.

The majority of players backed Ten Hag but the feeling in the dressing-room is that he was on borrowed time and that is said to have contributed to a dip in performance levels this season. In the Premier League, even the slightest drop-off can be crucial.

United appeared to back Ten Hag by bringing in Dutch coaches Ruud van Nistelrooy, Rene Hake and Jelle ten Rouwelaar, as well as several more signings familiar to the manager from his old club Ajax or from Holland like Matthijs de Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui and Joshua Zirkzee.

But by hawking his job around in the summer, and only triggering the 12-month extension in his contract, the damage was done.

Alan Shearer told The Rest is Football podcast last month: ‘As soon as it came out in the summer that Man United were looking at other managers, it was virtually going to be impossible for him.’

No excuses

By improving the structure around Ten Hag, United also isolated the manager as a likely cause for any failure in the system. Sources said on Monday morning that there were ‘no excuses’ for the poor start to the season.

There was an acceptance in the summer that he couldn’t be judged on last season’s disappointment because of the deficiencies above and below him at the club.

United brought in chief executive Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox and an entirely new backroom team.

Ten Hag was the only constant which means there can be no excuses if things don’t go well – and they could hardly have gone worse so far.

The return of former Old Trafford favourite Van Nistelrooy also created an intriguing dynamic that wasn’t there before.

United would have been unlikely to turn to Ten Hag’s old assistants Mitchell van der Gaag or Steve McClaren to step in as caretaker manager had they sacked him last season.

Van Nistelrooy, on the other hand, is an up-and-coming coach who turned down a number of managerial opportunities to rejoin his old club. He was a ready-made replacement and it is no surprise to see him installed as interim boss after Ten Hag was sacked.

Ran out of time

Despite another big spend on new signings this summer – taking the total outlay under Ten Hag beyond £600m – none of them have shone so far.

With Leny Yoro out injured, Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, and Manuel Ugarte have struggled to find their feet in difficult circumstances. Noussair Mazraoui needed minor heart surgery the last international break.

Crucially, United failed to resolve two of their biggest problems from last season.

Left-back was the main issue in the prolonged absence of Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia. It created a fundamental weakness in United’s defence and blunted Marcus Rashford who was asked to play deeper on the left to offer more protection. Rashford dropped from scoring 30 goals in Ten Hag’s first season to eight in his second.

United signed Mazraoui who is a right-back while continuing to play Dalot out of position on the left, and the Portugal international has struggled there. Ironically when they switched over at West Ham on Sunday and Dalot played on the right, he was guilty of missing an open goal that proved decisive in United’s defeat – and possible Ten Hag’s sacking too.

Meanwhile, Shaw hasn’t played for United since February and Malacia since May 2023.

United’s other problem last season was scoring as they finished with a negative goal difference for the first time in the Premier League, and that has continued this term. That has continued this season with eight goals scored and 11 conceded in nine games.

Having decided to buy Rasmus Hojlund last year instead of trying harder for Harry Kane, they opted for Zirkzee this summer ahead of a more experienced Premier League striker like Ivan Toney who moved to Saudi Arabia instead. Zirkzee has scored once in 13 games while Hojlund has two goals.

Ten Hag has spoken time and again about the decision he and the club have made to invest in youth, and called for patience. The trouble is that time isn’t on his side.

‘Uncoached’ team

The defeats to Liverpool, Tottenham and West Ham this season have once again left Ten Hag’s coaching and tactics open to scrutiny.

After the loss to Spurs in September cast fresh doubt over Ten Hag’s job, former United midfielder Paul Scholes was damning in his assessment of Ten Hag’s coaching.

‘You don’t know how they’re going to approach games, whether they are going to play on the counter-attack or sit deep, or whether they’re going to try to have all the possession in the game,’ said Scholes. ‘We’ve no idea – they look like an uncoached football team.’

A lack of identity has been one of the main criticisms levelled at Ten Hag’s teams since he took over, and it’s an issue he seemed no closer to resolving after nearly two-and-a-half years in the job.

Look around the Premier League at the impact Enzo Maresca has had at Chelsea, Arne Slot at Liverpool, Ange Postecoglou at Spurs or Unai Emery at Aston Villa, and they have all been able to make their mark in less time.

Final straw

Ultimately results sealed Ten Hag’s fate, and another concern for the people who made the decision was that they could have been even worse.

United were well beaten in the 3-0 defeats to Liverpool and Tottenham, with Andre Onana saving his team from a thrashing.

A team packed with expensive stars were a little unfortunate to lose at Brighton when inexplicably naïve defending led to Joao Pedro’s injury-time winner. But the opening victory over Fulham might easily have gone the other way as well, and so could the win at Southampton had it not been for Onana saving a penalty.

A draw at Aston Villa and home win over Brentford raised hope that Ten Hag could still turn things around, but defeat to West Ham was the final straw.