Manchester united co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe admitted that it was a mistake on their part after they took a decision to continue with Dutch manager Erik ten Hag after he had won them a FA Cup last season. Last season, Ten Hag guided United to an 8th placed finish before winning an FA Cup with them but he was sacked in the 2024/25 season even after being given a contract extension due to United languishing in the 15th spot after 9 matches.
“It was too early for us to make a big decision in reality. It was quite difficult to extract Erik’s performance from the structure around him. Was the erratic performance a function of Erik, or was it a function of the organisation? And we couldn’t really get to the bottom of answering that question with certainty, I suppose, so we gave Erik the benefit of the doubt,” he said in an interaction with Gary Neville.
When Neville asked if he regretted the decision to continue with Ten Hag, Ratcliffe said, “Yeah, it was the wrong decision. We made the wrong decision. It was an error. So yeah, I suppose in that sense I regret it.”
Ten Hag’s sacking had become inevitable after the former Ajax manager was unable to bring about any discernible results to the club despite spending over £200million, a level of financial control that was never afforded to even the greatest manager of the club.
Manchester United had announced the departure on their social media and website and said: “Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager. Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.”
United appointed Portuguese manager Ruben Amorim after Ten Hag with the club currently languishing in the 14th position in the Premier League.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd