A look back on Eric Ten Hag’s Manchester United career

As Jarrod Bowen scored the decisive penalty against United in their 2-1 loss to West Ham, the cameras panned to a forlorn looking Ten Hag on the sidelines, a grim sense of acceptance on his face. It was to be the last straw for a United board who had gone from top 4 hopefuls to 14th place in the Premier League, just 9 matches into the 2024/25 campaign.

The Dutchman’s tenure was littered with abject losses. Beaten 7-0 by rivals Liverpool, shocked in a 4-3 loss to Copenhagen in the Europa league, and battered 4-0 by Brentford, Ten Hag’s side often came under intense scrutiny for some of the worst performances in United’s memorable history.

On the other hand, his reign also brought some silverware back to the red side of Manchester. An FA Cup and League Cup saw United lift their first trophies since Europa League success in 2017, and brought about a relative degree of joy in otherwise disappointing seasons.

Inconsistency constantly combined with polarising on-field results to characterise Ten Hag’s turbulent time at United

The 2-1 win against Manchester City in the 2024 FA Cup final was probably the highlight of his Red Devils career and was an excellent performance, as his side completely outplayed their North-western rivals all across the pitch. It was to be only a false hope for change though, and United soon slipped back into mediocrity after a summer of cautious optimism.

For so long Ten Hag and Manchester United hid behind a mantra of trusting the process, in
which progress could only be achieved through sticking through the turbulent times and
coming out of the other side unscathed and competing. It was a similar sentiment to
that of Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, but for Ten Hag, this £600 million ‘process’ did not seem to
have any discernible style of play.

Whilst Ten Hag was not helped by a seemingly endless run of injuries, with Yoro, Mainoo and Hojlund all experiencing lengthy spells on the sidelines this season, there continued to be a considerable degree of instability when it came to picking a regular starting XI. Garnacho, Rashford, Casemiro and Maguire were all players who flirted with selection depending on form, and this led to disjointedness in the team’s style of play. Inconsistency constantly combined with polarising on-field results to characterise Ten Hag’s turbulent time at United.

What was perhaps most notable about Ten Hag were his bizarre post-match pressers. His excuses after losses often brought about accusations of delusion. Statements ranged from trying to convince fans that three successive draws in the Europa League were in fact good results, to having a full-blown argument with a reporter following critique of his management style after a 3-0 home loss to Liverpool.

After a woeful start to the season, there is much work to be done

Ten Hag’s inability to take responsibility was a constant source of irritation for United fans, who berated the casual dismissal of internal issues at the club. Ten Hag came to Manchester United hoping to be a permanent fixture, bringing season by season consistency to a team that has struggled to find it since Alex Ferguson had left in 2013. Instead, consistency constantly evaded him, and he became just another addition to a growing list of managers who never managed to bring United back where they belong.

Shortly after Ten Hag’s dismissal, Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim was announced as his successor. Amorim comes from a successful spell at Sporting and is looking to make widespread changes to the team’s set up. He will be more than likely implementing a back three in either a 3-4-3 or a 3-4-2-1 (with two attacking midfielders), and look to have fast attacking play on the transition. The success of these formations will depend on the
full backs and Bruno Fernandes’ ability to adapt to a different role. Alternatively, success will hinge on Amorim finding suitable replacements to rebuild the team.

In either case, Amorim will be hoping to do what Ten Hag and all the managers before him failed to do, and bring United their first Premier League title since the days of Ferguson. After a woeful start to the season, there is much work to be done.