Why Ten Hag failed at Manchester United: From player disputes to bad results-ZoomTech News

Erik ten Hag craved management at Manchester United nevertheless it meant that, with issues piling up, there was nowhere to cover. In the long run, his fingerprints have been throughout an excessive amount of of the failure — there have been no excuses left — and Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham United proved to be his last act as supervisor.

Ten Hag did it his approach, accommodated by the membership at virtually each flip, however nonetheless could not make it work. On a preseason journey to Oslo in the summertime of 2023, he complained to membership workers that the grass on the Ullevaal Stadion was longer than had been agreed. He was instructed that rain within the Norwegian capital in a single day led to surprising progress, and it was simply a kind of issues; Ten Hag replied that it wasn’t ok.

The Dutchman loved lots of management whereas at Man United. He dictated particulars from the size of the grass to help faster passing to the format of Previous Trafford. Early on in his reign, Ten Hag was allowed to revamp a bunch video evaluation room at Carrington — full with an enormous display screen, tiered flooring and inside ornament that includes pictures of United followers — at a value of greater than £200,000. But his modifications weren’t restricted to the amenities.

Ten Hag modified the best way gamers ready for video games, asking them to reach 4 hours early for matches at Previous Trafford in their very own automobiles fairly than spending the evening earlier than at a Manchester lodge and arriving collectively on a coach. He repurposed a big hospitality suite and turned it right into a prematch room for his squad. He moved the lockers within the dressing room so the defenders sat to his left, and the midfielders and forwards sat to his proper, when he stood in entrance of his techniques board.

At Previous Trafford, Ten Hag insisted on switching the benches round to be nearer the tunnel, despite the fact that it meant his technical space would then straddle the midway line, which, in his opinion, would give him a greater view of the sport. He was instructed it will price cash to make the change as a result of the house benches are heated and the away benches usually are not, however Ten Hag put his foot down and bought his approach. He typically did.

United knew what they have been getting after they employed him from Ajax Amsterdam in the summertime of 2022. Membership bosses have been instructed a narrative that when he first arrived at Ajax in December 2017, he continued to make use of a suitcase embroidered with the branding of his former membership, FC Utrecht. He was instructed it was maybe not the very best search for the Ajax supervisor to be carrying Utrecht merchandise, however he preferred the bag and used it anyway. Ajax bosses instructed their United counterparts that it confirmed “Ten Hag’s stubbornness in a nutshell.”

Ten Hag was the identical at Previous Trafford, however with a lot management got here final duty for performances and outcomes that have been ultimately deemed unacceptable. After somewhat over two years, 4 months in cost, Ten Hag was sacked on Monday after a run of simply 4 wins from 13 matches in all competitions to begin the 2024-25 season. Languishing at 14th within the desk — as near the relegation locations as the highest 4 — United have been on the right track to put even decrease than final season’s worst-ever Premier League end.

Ten Hag leaves with a report of 70 wins and 35 defeats in 128 video games. The indicators of discord have been there for some time and despite the fact that United sources insist Ten Hag has carried out himself with professionalism and dignity all through his time at Previous Trafford, his departure is not any shock.

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Battle with gamers from Ronaldo to Sancho

After finishing the acquisition of a 27.7% stake within the membership early in 2024, Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos crew have been initially sympathetic to the problems confronted by Ten Hag, however more and more discovered that lots of the issues pointed again to the supervisor.

Ten Hag survived their intensive end-of-season assessment largely due to the shock FA Cup success over Manchester Metropolis on Might 25, and since agreements could not be reached with different candidates together with Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino. That victory was such a shock {that a} postmatch occasion needed to be rapidly organized with no prior planning.

Ten Hag’s contract was quickly prolonged by a 12 months after, however there was a sense inside the Ineos hierarchy even then {that a} change is perhaps needed if the shape that noticed them end eighth within the Premier League final season — United’s lowest-ever end within the league’s 31-year historical past — did not drastically enhance in the course of the early a part of the brand new marketing campaign.

Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rene Hake additionally arrived in a summer time revamp of Ten Hag’s teaching workers. Ten Hag had a earlier relationship with Hake, however not with Van Nistelrooy, and it prompted some gamers to invest that the previous Netherlands worldwide, who spent a 12 months answerable for PSV Eindhoven between 2022 and 2023, could be a ready-made alternative if Ten Hag was sacked; precisely what ended up occurring when Van Nistelrooy was appointed as caretaker supervisor on Monday.

It was telling that CEO Omar Berrada and sporting director Dan Ashworth — employed in by Ratcliffe and Ineos to revamp the membership’s footballing construction — each distanced themselves from the choice to maintain Ten Hag by making it identified privately that they weren’t concerned within the conversations as a result of that they had not formally began of their new roles in July. It gave their public backing of Ten Hag in early September a hole really feel.

Ten Hag’s time in cost in the end delivered two trophies in two years, nevertheless it was by no means straightforward.

After starting his reign with defeats to Brighton and Brentford in August 2022, sources instructed ESPN there have been early complaints from some gamers that Ten Hag struggled to speak, and considerations that directions have been being misplaced in translation resulting in confusion on the pitch. Following the 4-0 defeat to Brentford, one participant instructed shut mates that Ten Hag did not know how you can encourage, with gamers typically discovering him tough to learn. He might be jolly in the future, and intensely severe the subsequent. One supply described Ten Hag as “too strict.”

His disciplinarian strategy was initially welcomed by senior gamers who believed requirements had slipped below interim supervisor Ralf Rangnick, however a few of his guidelines would trigger further points.

Most gamers agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was within the unsuitable when he refused to return on instead in opposition to Tottenham in October 2022 however, after seemingly profitable the battle of wills initially, sources instructed ESPN many inside the membership quickly began to suppose Ten Hag had taken the punishment too far.

Ronaldo was initially ordered to coach away from the primary crew, however when he tried to enter the dressing room and retrieve a pair of his trainers, he was instructed by workers he wasn’t allowed in. The stand-off ended solely when Ronaldo enlisted an academy participant to enter the dressing room for him, with various senior gamers viewing the blanket ban as an pointless humiliation.

The fallout with Ronaldo was seismic, however though the Portugal legend’s departure from Previous Trafford in the course of the break for the 2022 FIFA World Cup was comparatively clear, the same scenario with Jadon Sancho was not.

Sancho was a high-profile and extremely coveted signing when introduced on July 1, 2021. His arrival, recent off the again of 4 sensible years at Borussia Dortmund, was seen as a coup for United within the face of curiosity from different prime golf equipment, however issues rapidly devolved after a promising begin.

A public fallout between the England worldwide and Ten Hag was adopted by 4 months of Sancho being made to coach, eat and alter on his personal. A lot of gamers tried to encourage Sancho to apologise, however the longer the scenario went on, the extra gamers started to imagine that — once more — Ten Hag had taken issues too far. Sources have instructed ESPN that Ten Hag needed Sancho to apologize publicly as a result of the participant had made the battle public on social media, however sources inform ESPN that some gamers seen the demand as an pointless humiliation.

The Sancho scenario more and more grew to become a humiliation. As Sancho — despatched on mortgage to former membership Dortmund in January 2024 — was tearing holes in Paris Saint-Germain in the course of the Champions League semifinal first leg in April, United representatives despatched messages to high-profile pundits telling them to cease speaking up the ahead’s contribution as a result of it mirrored badly on the membership.

With nobody keen to match Sancho’s valuation over the summer time, Ten Hag was satisfied to permit him again into first-team coaching. He remained reluctant all through the uneasy truce, feeling that it might be seen as a lack of his authority. Ultimately Sancho joined Chelsea in a cut-price mortgage deal on Deadline Day in August 2024.

Gamers query his coaching strategies as accidents mount

Sancho was considered one of various points Ten Hag confronted throughout a very tough second season. Accidents have been an issue, and never simply the quantity of them: United needed to take care of 45 separate instances throughout that marketing campaign.

Gamers questioned the depth of a number of the coaching periods and have been typically left considering they’d profit from extra individually tailor-made programmes. One senior participant put his damage issues right down to being requested to coach in the identical approach as a lot youthful squad members, believing as a substitute that he needs to be allowed longer to get better after video games.

Sources have instructed ESPN that Ten Hag would use additional coaching as a response to poor outcomes and performances, which many gamers discovered counterproductive. They might really feel drained forward of the subsequent sport, lose, after which be given extra additional coaching. Ten Hag’s reply was all the time that Premier League soccer is intense, so coaching should be the identical.

In the direction of the top of final season, Ten Hag was reducing an more and more remoted determine. Members of his personal workers started to query why the crew was being arrange in the identical approach regardless of typically conceding 20 or extra pictures. Gamers, too, started to really feel the crew was “too open.”

Ten Hag by no means misplaced the whole dressing room in the best way Jose Mourinho did earlier than he was sacked however, over time, an increasing number of people started to develop their very own gripes. Ratcliffe’s right-hand man at Ineos, Sir Dave Brailsford, held one-on-one conferences with the squad in February and once more in April. There was an overriding feeling that assist for the supervisor inside the dressing room had dipped considerably in the course of the intervening two months.

Ten Hag put his case ahead to Ratcliffe and Brailsford, insisting that “no crew on the earth” might have coped with the quantity of accidents Man United had suffered. He pointed to his promotion of children Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo, and voiced his frustration that the membership had missed out on signing stars like Frenkie de Jong (who stayed at Barcelona), Alexis Mac Allister (who joined Liverpool), Federico Valverde (who remained at Actual Madrid) and Harry Kane (who went to Bayern Munich).

Sources have instructed ESPN that Ineos was instructed throughout conversations with the recruitment crew that lots of Ten Hag’s switch calls for have been “unrealistic.”

Stress over recruitment and switch insurance policies

Recruitment was a contentious situation all through Ten Hag’s time at Previous Trafford. His demand for management over transfers noticed United terminate their collaboration with Rangnick, who had agreed a two-year deal to behave as a guide. When Ten Hag took over in the summertime of 2022, Rangnick anticipated to fulfill face-to-face for an in depth assembly in regards to the state of the squad solely to find the brand new United supervisor was keen to solely grant him a cellphone name.

One participant Ten Hag did get was Antony. Having labored collectively at Ajax, Ten Hag was the driving power behind signing the Brazilian winger, however the switch has been an unmitigated catastrophe. Throughout talks with Ineos, Ten Hag stated that, whereas he needed Antony, it was not his fault that the payment had risen to greater than £85 million when he was out there for a a lot cheaper price earlier in the summertime of 2022. A supply has instructed ESPN that Ajax couldn’t imagine the provide United ultimately made as a result of it was to date above his market worth, whereas different sources observe that signing Antony and Casemiro was partly pushed by the panic attributable to these early defeats to Brighton and Brentford.

There was additional pressure in recruitment conferences following the Ineos takeover, with Brailsford eager to emphasize that duty for signings would in the end be handed to Ashworth and technical director, Jason Wilcox.

Ten Hag at first struggled to construct a working relationship with Wilcox, dismissing him as any person who lacked the credentials for his job, having beforehand run Man Metropolis’s academy set-up after which a 12 months as Southampton director of soccer. Issues improved following talks over the summer time, however Ten Hag was nonetheless reluctant to surrender management, arguing that he had been granted a switch veto in his contract. Sources have instructed ESPN that Ineos was not impressed along with his report out there.

Ten Hag insisted that he hadn’t pushed for each switch made below his watch and as a substitute was compelled to simply accept sure gamers as a result of positions needed to be stuffed. He needed Kane — an skilled objective scorer — when the membership was in search of a striker in the summertime of 2023 and as a substitute bought Rasmus Højlund, a younger participant with huge potential however very a lot a piece in progress.

Moreover, Ten Hag was exasperated by the membership’s monetary scenario and seen each January switch home windows throughout his reign as missed alternatives. He was allowed to solely signal Wout Weghorst and Marcel Sabitzer on short-term loans in January 2023, and his request for a striker in January 2024 to assist ease the burden on Hojlund was turned down.

In accordance with a supply, Ten Hag insisted that he needed to signal Antony, Lisandro Martínez and Casemiro partially as a result of they have been sturdy characters who have been important to take care of a dressing room that was in a multitude post-Rangnick. Antony and Martinez demanded Ajax allow them to go — Martinez at one level argued immediately with an Ajax official over a transfer to United — which galvanized Ten Hag and soccer director John Murtough.

Martinez, a staunch Ten Hag supporter, was missed within the dressing room and on the coaching pitch throughout an extended damage layoff between September 2023 and January 2024. The Argentinian was inspired to spend extra time across the squad throughout a very poor run of type in December 2023, when workers reported again to Ten Hag that he was near shedding the assist of some influential senior gamers.

Defenders Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs De Ligt and arrived from Bayern Munich in the summertime of 2024, however the United hierarchy was initially unconvinced as to why the membership wanted the latter participant, having simply signed Leny Yoro to a long-term deal. Mazraoui was seen as a straight alternative for Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who in the end joined West Ham, whereas De Ligt was felt to be respectable worth and added extra depth at an issue place. After discussions with Ten Hag, they sanctioned it as a result of low prices concerned.

Ten Hag did his finest to handle the squad with an emphasis on particular person conferences however, privately, he accepted it was a step up from what he had identified at Ajax and located United gamers have been virtually “companies” in their very own proper with big entourages round them, all with their very own opinions. On one event, a request made by a participant’s PR consultant for extra publicity on the membership’s social media channels ended up on his desk.

Ten Hag, based on sources, made a acutely aware effort to keep away from criticising people within the media for concern that it will do extra hurt than good. After virtually capitulating to Championship facet to Coventry Metropolis within the FA Cup semifinal in April, he saved the gamers within the Wembley dressing room for thus lengthy that by the point they got here out, the Coventry gamers have been lined up ready to swap shirts. However in his information convention instantly afterward, he determined to defend his squad, as a substitute specializing in the actual fact United had received the sport on penalties to achieve a second successive FA Cup last.

Some workers felt Ten Hag protected his gamers an excessive amount of and as a substitute inadvertently made himself a lightning rod for criticism. Ten Hag, although, believed that many gamers did not reply properly to public criticism and that it was vital to maintain the dressing room behind him as finest he might. He repeatedly backed Marcus Rashford regardless of considerations about his physique language throughout coaching and video games.

Ten Hag needed to remain in management, even when it elevated an already large workload. He picked the squad numbers for brand new signings — it was his resolution at hand Mason Mount the No. 7 shirt fairly than to Garnacho — and needed to know what media commitments gamers had, why they have been doing it and whether or not or not they have been contractually obliged.

When membership workers have been fearful Ten Hag was being requested to carry too many information conferences, they instructed former assistant Steve McClaren might take over earlier than a Carabao Cup tie. Ten Hag declined, insisting the “message” all the time needed to come from him. In accordance with a supply, a request made by a TV firm to talk to Van Nistelrooy in August was turned down on Ten Hag’s say-so.

On one event Ten Hag cancelled his personal interview with Robin van Persie, who had flown to Manchester to conduct it, as a result of it clashed along with his coaching schedule. Nothing bought in the best way of his work — one thing acknowledged by Ratcliffe and Brailsford — nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to avoid wasting him after a disastrous finish to his second season and depressing begin to his third.

In the long run, too many unhealthy outcomes

Ten Hag is considered one of solely 4 managers in United’s historical past to win trophies in consecutive seasons alongside Ernest Mangnall, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Alex Ferguson, however profitable the FA Cup was achieved in opposition to a backdrop of United’s worst league season for 34 years.

When Ratcliffe and Ineos started the method of investing in United in November 2022, that they had no intention of sacking Ten Hag. Even early this 12 months, their feeling was that the construction on the membership was unsuitable and that any supervisor would wrestle to carry out. However after lastly formalising their settlement to purchase a minority stake in February, setbacks on the pitch got here thick and quick.

The two-1 defeat to Fulham at Previous Trafford on Feb. 24 was thought of a watershed second. Ten Hag referred to as the squad into Carrington the next day and made them watch a replay of the sport in full earlier than going out to coach.

Six weeks later, Ratcliffe was within the stands at Stamford Bridge as United conceded twice in stoppage time to lose 4-3 to a Chelsea crew that was additionally in a state of flux. Sources have instructed ESPN that Ratcliffe made his frustration with the efficiency well-known each throughout and after the sport. Ratcliffe was within the stands once more at Wembley as United threw away the three-goal lead in opposition to Coventry, and it was adopted two weeks later by the humiliating 4-0 defeat at Crystal Palace.

Ten Hag had began to significantly concern that he was not in Ratcliffe’s long-term plans in March when he was knowledgeable that assistant Benni McCarthy — a key member of workers in his first two years — had not been approached about signing a brand new contract. Chelsea’s shock resolution to half firm with Pochettino in late Might prompted considerations amongst United’s new management crew that they needed to act rapidly as a result of each golf equipment could be selecting from the identical pool of managers.

It led to discussions with potential candidates within the week main as much as the FA Cup last, a scenario thought of so humiliating that shut mates suggested Ten Hag to stop.

Sat within the Wembley information convention theatre after beating Man Metropolis, Ten Hag was defiant saying that if Ratcliffe and the brand new co-owners “don’t desire me, then I am going some other place to win trophies as a result of that’s what I do.”

In the identical room in February 2023, he walked into his information convention carrying the Carabao Cup — United’s first trophy for six years — and practically left it on the desk earlier than joking that he was “already eager about the subsequent one.” After two in two years, he will not get the possibility to make it three in three.

The shock victory over Metropolis within the FA Cup last was sufficient to maintain him in a job for one more six months, however the goodwill constructed up after that day at Wembley ultimately eroded. Their 3-0 defeat to Liverpool in September prompted renewed fear amongst United’s management that Ten Hag might not be capable of flip issues round.

After that, United’s 3-0 defeat to Tottenham a month later was one other nail in his coffin. A supply has instructed ESPN that after Bruno Fernandes had been despatched off late within the first half, the gamers have been uncertain what Ten Hag’s plan was as they emerged for the second 45 minutes and conceded simply two minutes into the half.

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Severe consideration was given to sacking Ten Hag in the course of the October worldwide break and, regardless of beating Brentford when home fixtures resumed, the 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Sunday was the tipping level. The ultimate resolution was made on Sunday evening, and Ashworth and Berrada have been ready at Carrington early on Monday morning to ship the information.

With Van Nistelrooy left to arrange for his interim position and a Carabao Cup sport in opposition to Leicester Metropolis on Wednesday, Ten Hag was pushed out of Carrington for the final time and on Monday afternoon arrived at Manchester airport to fly house to the Netherlands.

United handed Ten Hag the keys to Previous Trafford when he arrived. Two years on, he is been instructed to offer them again.

Extra reporting by Mark Ogden.