After losing 0-3 to Tottenham at home in round 6 of the Premier League on September 29, coach Erik ten Hag only has 2 matches left to save his job at Man Utd.
The Man Utd board consider the 0-3 defeat to Tottenham at Old Trafford to be unacceptable. But their current stance is to support Ten Hag, his coaching staff and the players and have no immediate plans to change the head coach position.
Ten Hag is still certain to lead Man Utd's next two matches, away to Porto in the second round of the Europa League on October 3 and Aston Villa in the seventh round of the Premier League on October 6. "If Man Utd still do not achieve good results in these two matches, the new leadership will consider the future of the Dutch coach," British newspaperTelegraphwrite.
Ten Hag drove to Carrington training ground early on the morning of September 30, when it was still dark, less than half a day after the defeat to Tottenham. The 54-year-old coach is said to want to get to work early to help Man Utd recover, preparing for the next two difficult away matches.
After the defeat to Tottenham, Ten Hag confirmed that he was not worried about the possibility of being fired and still received support from the board of directors. The 54-year-old coach also said that captain Bruno Fernandes' direct red card at the end of the first half caused Man Utd to miss the chance to come back and suffer a 0-3 defeat at home.
Since appointing Ten Hag in the summer of 2022, Man Utd have spent around $800 million to bring in 21 players over five transfer windows. This summer alone, the Old Trafford club has recruited Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee, Leny Yoro, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui for a total of $251 million.
However, Man Utd still had a bad start, losing to Man City in the Community Shield, losing 3 in the first 6 rounds, falling to 12th in the Premier League and drawing 1-1 with the underdog Twente at home in the first round of the Europa League. In the European Cup, the "Red Devils" lost 5, drew 3 and won only 1 of the last 9 matches, with the exception of the 1-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League group stage in October 2023.
Ten Hag was on the brink of being sacked at the end of last season, when Man Utd finished 8th in the Premier League, were eliminated from the Champions League group stage and the fourth round of the League Cup. But the Dutch coach "kept his job" thanks to a 2-1 victory over Man City in the FA Cup final to win back-to-back titles - something that has never happened since the time of former coach Alex Ferguson, after winning the League Cup in the 2022-2023 season.
Ten Hag has led Man Utd in 123 games, losing 34, drawing 20 and winning 69, with a win rate of 56.1%. This figure is not too different from the team's two most recent official coaches, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (54.17%) and Jose Mourinho (58.33%). Many experts believe that Man Utd have not improved under Ten Hag.
VN (synthesis)