The untold story of Erik ten Hag's sacking at Manchester United
The curtains at Erik ten Hag’s Hale home were closed when he left Manchester earlier this month, marking a dismal October for Manchester United. Players familiar with the cycle of managers at United saw through Ten Hag, with one insider noting that his position, precarious since May, finally became untenable by October, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Since April, Ten Hag had been lingering by the Old Trafford tunnel to receive fan applause. This attempt to showcase support felt increasingly forced, especially when he repeated the gesture at halftime in a September game against Liverpool, with United down 2-0.
Despite winning two trophies, Ten Hag’s tenure began to unravel. His coaching decisions grew increasingly erratic, using “rotation” to explain questionable substitutions. The Dutchman’s popularity with fans dwindled, and by his final match, fans chanted, “Ruud, Ruud, Ruud van Nistelrooy,” who some believed might replace him as caretaker.
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Ten Hag had half-joked that Sir Dave Brailsford’s visit to him in Ibiza in June “threw a spanner in the works,” a sign of friction with United’s Ineos-led management. Tensions with the new ownership grew, and a source described United’s setup as amateurish, a sentiment echoed by others within the industry who saw United’s turmoil as karmic for Ineos’s perceived “disrespect” for football.
Before the FA Cup final in May, Ten Hag insisted on boarding the train last at Stockport Station. A source confirmed it was a good luck ritual.
A friend was on board. “It’s already derailed,” he joked. United got back on track at Wembley.
At away games, Ten Hag was always the last to disembark the United coach, five minutes after the last player had stepped off. Those superstitious moments of quiet contemplation offered brief respite.
Before the FA Cup final, a report circulated about Ten Hag’s potential sacking, possibly leaked by a Chelsea insider hoping to disrupt United’s preparations. However, United triumphed, secured a Europa League spot, and Kieran McKenna stayed with Ipswich Town, rejecting Chelsea in favour of a salary hike.
United had a new co-chairman, a new chief executive with a new structure, an inaugural sporting director, a new technical director and new coaches. They jettisoned a physio, a kit man and a press officer. But the manager stayed the same.
Early into Ten Hag’s second season, a player complained, “If your face doesn’t fit you’re sacrificed.” The dressing room consensus was Ten Hag had favourites he would protect at all costs and he was more strident in his criticism of players he had inherited. As United’s season spiralled, Ten Hag ceased such privileges and his four most expensive signings were among the substitutes on the FA Cup final teamsheet.
One player became so resentful his relative told a confidant, “We won’t be bailing him out again.” That was a mere month into the 2023-24 season.
The culture of discontent mirrored what had been seen under previous managers like Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick. Alejandro Garnacho, a young forward, became the target of dressing-room gossip, with one United player's hanger-on calling him a “f*****g Ronaldo wannabe” despite Garnacho’s notable consistency and scoring in the FA Cup final.
United’s lack of clarity over Ten Hag’s job status left a cloud over the team’s FA Cup celebration, leaving Ineos co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe visibly caught off guard. Ten Hag’s public statements turned increasingly defensive as United’s position in the league worsened. He recently insisted United were moving in a “good direction” even as relegation loomed.
The Dutchman’s insistence on controlling recruitment isolated him from United’s technical team, including John Murtough, who departed in April. When United signed Wout Weghorst on loan in January 2023, Burnley players mocked the move, recalling Weghorst’s unsuccessful attempt to oust their former manager Sean Dyche. Weghorst’s record at United was underwhelming, scoring only twice in 31 appearances, though Ten Hag claimed he was a “success.”
Some United players have never taken to Antony. One was dismayed by his behaviour towards staff in the canteen, though a well-placed United source described the exchanges as more convivial.
Antony went rogue with an unauthorised statement to an external channel regarding allegations of domestic abuse in England and Brazil. It did not go unnoticed by staff at United that the same channel coincidentally revealed Antony-related team news. Members of the dressing room were never sold on Antony and Hojlund, Ten Hag’s two most expensive buys.
Leaks have dripped out of United since time immemorial and Ferguson described the club as a “sieve” in one of his last interviews as manager. In recent years, they have started to cause greater offence yet Ineos have reputedly leaked United-related tidbits to a favoured publication. A youngster’s sibling was so loose-lipped it was obvious they were the source of separate team news revelations. A known member of staff left amid accusations they were a renowned leaker.
A United player admitted some squad members were reluctant to pass the ball to Hojlund. Another expressed frustration at Garnacho’s supposed refusal to service fellow forwards when there was scant evidence of that.
Sancho gained little sympathy over accusing Ten Hag of lying. A number of teammates had become frustrated with his lack of urgency on the ball and one bluntly described the winger as “slow as s**t”. Some senior teammates advised Sancho to apologise to Ten Hag. He never did.
A long-serving player became so disenchanted his father, an ever-present at most games, briefly stopped attending. When collared as to why he missed the remarkable revival against Brentford last October, he scoffed, “Why would I want to come here for that?”
Rashford’s struggles left some opponents staggered. “It must be frustrating for United fans to watch Rashford because honestly, if he wanted to he could have destroyed us,” an opposition player said. “But he chose to not be in the game. He has everything to be one of the world’s best but just chooses not to do it rather than he can’t.”
Rashford has been more engaged this season but he was substituted before the hour at West Ham in his final appearance under Ten Hag.
Players were thrown by Ten Hag’s preparation for the 3-1 defeat to Brighton in September 2023 when he sprung a diamond formation on them. Rashford was dismayed to start the season at centre forward after a career-best campaign on the left wing. His goals output plummeted from 30 to eight.
Raphael Varane was unhappy with a run of one start in 13 games and unimpressed by the rudderless state of the club. United miscommunicated the expiry date of Varane’s contract before he was released.
As recently as this season, an opposition manager got wind of Ten Hag’s tactical alteration after he was tipped off by one of his players. The player is an international teammate of one of the United players, who told him where he would be playing hours before kick-off.
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