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Manchester United and Erik ten Hag finally said goodbye to one another on the 28th of October 2024 after months of speculation over the Dutchman’s future.
Ten Hag leaves Old Trafford with United in 14th position in the Premier League and having had just three wins from nine league matches this season.
They also sit 21st in the Europa League standings with three draws in three matches and no win in Europe in over a year.
However, it is easy to forget the fanfare that greeted Ten Hag in the spring of 2022 when he was announced the new coach, replacing interim Ralf Rangnick for the start of the 2022/2023 season.
The club and many fans believed they had finally found the right man to bring back the good times to Old Trafford. He was a serial winner in the Netherlands, stunning all of Europe with his magical youthful Ajax side who were seconds from reaching the Champions League final in 2019.
Speaking in his first interview as manager of the club he claimed, “I really look forward to doing this job, at this club with massive history, and we want to restore it where it belongs.”
He also claimed “I want to build and construct a team who are battling for each other, who are unified and will get results. Also we are playing in the Theatre of Dreams. We want to entertain.”
This however, is probably the biggest failing of Ten Hag’s time as coach.
On the plus side, nobody can deny that he won two major trophies and ended the club’s trophy drought that stretched on from 2017 when Jose Mourinho won the Europa League.
Winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 was important but beating rivals Manchester City at Wembley last May, inspired by two academy graduates, was a special moment and will always have a significant place in the heart of United fans.
Ten Hag’s first season can also be categorised as a success as well, as his side reached the final of the FA Cup and finished third in the league. New signings Lisandro Martinez, Christian Eriksen and Casemiro all impressed while Marcus Rashford and Luke Shaw arguably had their best ever seasons in their careers under the Dutchman.
Nonetheless, from the 2023-2024 season, things spectacularly imploded for Ten Hag and United. The former Ajax man’s abandonment of playing style in favour of a transition-heavy brand of football often disapprovingly dubbed “chaos ball” by United fans did little to convince the Old Trafford faithful he was the right man for the job.
Whilst the former coach did point to the multitude of injuries, it is also fair to say a lot of teams had to deal with these issues and with a squad far less expensive than his.
He signed a total of 21 players during his time at Old Trafford and those who can be classified as genuine success stories could be counted fairly comfortably on one hand.
The worst aspect of Ten Hag’s legacy however flies directly in the face of what he set up to achieve.
The Red Devils were just plain dull for a sizeable amount of time he was manager and when they weren’t limp in front of goal, they compensated by showing pathetic mentality in defence.
The crazy sequence of away days in Europe that saw them concede three or more goals at Sevilla, Bayern Munich, FC Copenhagen, Galatasaray and FC Porto over the course of three seasons shows few or no lessons were learned. This streak finally ended with a 1-1 draw against Fenerbahce but only due to the heroics of Andre Onana.
The Peoples Person already relayed statistics yesterday that showed just how bad things have got in the Premier League for United under the Dutchman as they have a minus four goal difference since the start of last season. The start to this season is also worryingly exactly the same as when the club was relegated in the 1973/74 season.
Ten Hag will surely point to the trophies that he has won and claim that he did what no other manager could since Mourinho. But clubs’ progress is ultimately judged on their league performance and this is where United have floundered since his first campaign.
No doubt the 54 year old will take some time away from football after the pressure and rigours of managing Manchester United for two and a bit seasons, but he will almost definitely get another chance to manage a team competing in European competition in the not so distant future.
United fans will probably wish him the best and thank him for the two trophies but also stay safe in the knowledge that Ineos have finally taken the right decision for the club’s short and long term future and will look forward to welcoming in a new era at the club they love so much.
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