So after just over 2 years in charge at Old Trafford Erik ten Hag has been sacked as manager of Manchester United.
The Dutchman leaves behind a mixed legacy as although he has two trophies to his name in the form of and FA Cup and a Carabao Cup, United had their lowest Premier League finish last season and have hit an all-time Premier League low as they sit in 14th place after 9 games in the Premier League so far this season.
The sacking also comes 116 days after Manchester United confirmed that Erik ten Hag had signed a contract extension to stay in charge until the summer of 2026, a decision which surprised many people as it was supposedly leaked hours before the FA Cup final against Manchester City that ten Hag was going to be sacked following that match.
INEOS came in as minority owners of Manchester United in February and have overhauled nearly all off-field positions at the club, including a lot of ten Hag's coaching ticket but kept ten Hag in charge only to sack him less than 10 games into the 2024/25 Premier League season.
Jamie Carragher Believes United Missed a Trick Not Bringing In Tuchel
One manager that was heavily linked with Manchester United during the summer before INEOS ultimately chose to keep ten Hag was former Chelsea and Bayern Munich manager Thomas Tuchel.
The German left Bavaria at the end of last season after Bayern failed to win the Bundesliga for the first time since 2012 but he was still highly sought after with many thinking he was the perfect replacement for ten Hag at Manchester United.
While ten Hag may have kept his job, Jamie Carragher believed INEOS may have been biding time before ultimately bringing the man they wanted in Tuchel.
Speaking on Sky Sports News, Carragher compare the Erik ten Hag-Manchester United situation to the one that Brendan Rodgers experienced at Liverpool in 2015.
I think so. I go back to Liverpool appointing Jürgen Klopp and keeping Brendan Rodgers a long time ago. Brendan Rodgers was in a similar situation to Erik ten Hag where the Liverpool board were not sure whether to keep Rodgers or move him on. They decided to keep him and changed him in the October International break and then Jürgen Klopp was available. Maybe there was a bit of method to the madness of keeping the manager, they knew Jürgen Klopp was there.
However as we know Thomas Tuchel was appointed as England manager this month, signing an 18-month contract which begins in January 2025.
With Manchester United sacking ten Hag just weeks later, Carragher believes United missed a big opportunity to hire a proven winner in Tuchel
One of the reasons why i thought they kept Erik ten Hag was because there was a manager who still might've wanted to have a little bit of a break over the summer, recharge his batteries and think "I'm not quite sure of what I want to do."
I actually thought that might be Thomas Tuchel and Manchester United might've been lining that up like Liverpool did with Jürgen Klopp. But then England come from nowhere, take Tuchel and they change Erik ten Hag now. So yeah, I thought that might've been something on the back of the minds of the owners.
Did Manchester United miss out on Thomas Tuchel? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/r4llFWLTta
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 28, 2024
Ruud van Nistelrooy is in temporary charge of the first team for now and the former United legend has a lot on his hands to try change United's fortunes.
