LONDON: The axe which had been hanging over Erik ten Hag since the summer, when Manchester United sounded out replacement managers in vain, has finally fallen.

Hardly any wonder that Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino, among others, did not bite off the hand of part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe given the apparent football section dysfunction at Old Trafford.

Ironically the 51-year-old Dutchman was sacked 24 hours after one of his team’s better performances of the season in a 2-1 Premier League defeat at West Ham. This left the club 14th in the table with only three wins from their opening nine matches. United also sit 21st out of 36 teams in the Europa League table, having drawn their three opening fixtures.

Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club as Ten Hag’s assistant last summer, has been named as interim manager “The club said Van Nistelrooy would be in charge “”while a permanent head coach is recruited”. Talks have reportedly begun with Ruben Amorim, coach of Sporting Lisbon.

Ten Hag was informed of the decision by chief executive Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth at the club’s Carrington training ground. Club sources indicated a difficult decision had also been a unanimous one.

The club triggered a one-year extension in Ten Hag’s contract following May’s FA Cup Final victory over Manchester City but just over three months later he has been dismissed.

United have their second-lowest Premier League points tally after nine games, with 11 points (they had 10 at this stage in the 2019-20 campaign). They are nowseeking their sixth permanent manager since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013.

Former Ajax boss Ten Hag, 54, took charge in the summer of 2022 and led the club to third place in the Premier League in his first season.

He also guided United to their first piece of silverware in six seasons with a 2-0 win against Newcastle in the 2023 League Cup Final and finished runners-up in the FA Cup final, losing 2-1 to to Manchester City.

His second season in charge started poorly, with United finishing bottom of their Champions League group in the autumn but they picked up a trophy, beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final.

British billionaire Ratcliffe, whose £1.25bn investment for 27.7pc of the club was ratified in February of this year, has always insisted the club’s problems extended far beyond the role of the manager.

After Ratcliffe’s investment was confirmed, Ineos took over football operations at Old Trafford and quickly began a restructure with Dan Ashworth appointed sporting director, Berrada as chief executive and Jason Wilcox as technical director.

The manner of United’s unexpected FA Cup win last season meant Ten Hag was given the opportunity to work within a new sporting structure but neither the results nor the performances have been good enough across last season and into this one.

Fernandes, who was appointed club captain by Ten Hag in 2023, urged supporters to remember the good times.

He wrote on social media: “Even knowing the last period hasn’t been great from all of us I hope you fans can keep with you the good things the manager has done for our club.”

Former United captain Gary Neville said Ten Hag’s sacking felt inevitable. He said: “It was coming, Tottenham [3-0 home defeat] looked like the kind of game I have seen before. It was a bad day for Manchester United and a bad one for Erik ten Hag. It’s got worse and missing chances [on Sunday] was unacceptable.

“The big shock for me is how bad they have been with the new signings. That they are in 14th is unacceptable. I was hoping it would end differently, and that the faith shown would pay off, but it was not to be.”

Ten Hag’s first season at Old Trafford was a success.

After successive defeats by Brighton and Brentford in his first two matches in charge, Ten Hag grew into the role.

Victory against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup final ended the club’s six-year silverware drought, while they were beaten in the FA Cup final by Manchester City.

A third-place finish in the league was seen as a platform to build on but Ten Hag’s second season was dismal. United ended eighth – their lowest position in the 32-year history of the Premier league

June’s FA Cup final victory against rivals Manchester City salvaged Ten Hag’s position, with the club deciding to stick with him following an end-of-season review.

Emboldened by his contract extension, Ten Hag continually said that he was “on the same page” as the club’s board.

But results did not match Ten Hag’s rhetoric.

After an opening weekend win against Fulham at Old Trafford, United were beaten by a last-minute Brighton goal.

Victory against newly-promoted Southampton followed but a dismal 3-0 home defeat by Tottenham on 29 September came after draws against Crystal Palace in the Premier League and Twente in the Europa League.

The pressure on Ten Hag’s position was building before the October international break and Ratcliffe was present at Villa Park as United drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.

The club’s board met during the international break and provided no update on Ten Hag’s future, insisting nothing had changed.

But one win in the three matches since has forced the hand of United’s owners, bringing to an end the Dutchman’s two-and-a-half years at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag’s reign in numbers

  • Ten Hag’s 54.6% win record is the second-best of any United manager since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement – behind only Jose Mourinho’s 58.3%.
  • After 85 Premier League games in charge, Ten Hag had accrued one more point (146 points) than Sir Alex Ferguson managed in his first 85 league matches (145 points)
  • However, Ten Hag lost 31.8% of matches in all competitions, second only to David Moyes’ record of 32.4%.
  • United conceded 165 goals during Ten Hag’s tenure in all competitions. Only West Ham (180) conceded more in that time.
  • Man United have conceded three or more goals in 24 different games in that time, the joint most along with Bournemouth.
  • United conceded four or more goals in a single match on seven occasions under Ten Hag.
  • The club finished with a negative goal difference of -3 last season, the first time the club has recorded a negative goal difference in a Premier League season.
  • Ten Hag lost 27 Premier League games as United manager. A quarter of those (25.9%) were lost to goals in the 90th minute or later, including West Ham on Sunday
  • United have lost nine Premier League games to 90th-minute goals in their entire history. Seven of those were during Ten Hag’s 85 games in charge.
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