After well over two weeks of an end-of-season review, the current manager of Manchester United will be sticking around. INEOS have decided to put their faith in Eik ten Hag. In addition, talks are taking place to extend his contract. He has a year remaining on his current one. There is a belief that the new one will be for an additional two years.
It was during this period that there was immediate talks of ten Hag being sacked and who could replace him. One name that kept on coming up was Thomas Tuchel, who had recently departed Bayern Munich. Talks with him were advancing. That story stopped when it was reported that Tuchel wanted to take a hiatus from managing.
This talk of being sacked began way before the review took place. The pundits were all semingly all aligned with each other in believing that ten Hag was way out of his depth doing this job and that he needed to be replaced. This was on the back of statistically, the worst season that Manchester United has ever had.
It was even talked about after Man Utd won the FA Cup, the so-called 'experts' that made excuses as to why they won. Some said it was luck and some believed that the Manchester City players weren't in the right frame of mind due to the recent event of winning the Premier League for a 4th consecutive time.
Despite having a terrible season, there was one extenuating circumstance - the injuries this season. It has been reported that there have been over 60 separate injuries. These injuries had caused havoc for ten Hag. As a result, he has had to chop and change the team on a continuous basis. He also had to play players out of their usual positions. By the end of the season, he had used 15 different centre back partnerships (defensive positions).
This whole situation is somewhat similar to that of Louis van Gaal eight years earlier. In the 2015-16 season, Man Utd were having a troubling season. 15 days after being eliminated from the Champions League, van Gaal walked out of a press conference after being questioned about his future, amid speculations of dismissal following a six-game run without a win. He concluded, "I wish you a Merry Christmas and maybe also a Happy New Year when I see you.
Manchester United lost to Southampton on 23 January, rekindling rumours about van Gaal offering to resign but having his resignation rejected by United executive, Ed Woodward.
After a 3–0 defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur on 10 April, several United players reportedly turned on van Gaal in the dressing room, calling him "clueless" and questioning his tactics after he openly criticised young striker, Marcus Rashford and several other players and made several questionable decisions during the match, a result which left United four points off fourth-placed Manchester City.
On 21 May 2016, van Gaal won his only trophy with Manchester United, the FA Cup, when his side defeated Crystal Palace 2–1 after extra time; Jesse Lingard's winning goal made United match Arsenal's then-record of 12 FA Cups. Two days later, van Gaal, and the Dutch members of his staff, were sacked by the club.
However, there are two differences between the two Dutch managers. The first is that when van Gaal was sacked, the Utd board had a manager waiting in the wings - José Mourinho. Hence, there wasn't a need for a search party to be made on the next manager. Secondly, the fanfare was less behind van Gaal. I, myself, wasn't all too fussed about the sacking. When it comes to ten Hag, the fanfare is much different. The majority of fans, including myself, support him. There would probably be riots and protests aplenty if INEOS decided to sack him.
If there's one thing that really aggrivates me, it's that when Man Utd win, the pundits will more likely atrribute it to luck or a similar fate, similar to that of the FA Cup final. When they lose, the pundits will be licking their lips & ready to shred through the team and the performance. They will especially tear into the manager. It's as if they all have an agenda against the club.
I found it interesting to learn that there are similarities between ten Hag's season and FA Cup glory to that of Sir Alex Ferguson's one in 1990. The old saying goes that lightning doesn't strike twice but Manchester United fans are convinced otherwise. That's because Erik ten Hag keeping his job with the club following FA Cup final success has striking similarities to the pathway Sir Alex Ferguson had at Old Trafford.
To start with, cast your mind back to February 28, when Man Utd beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 away from home in the FA Cup fifth round. Ferguson achieved an identical 1-0 result in 1990 away against Forest, although in the third round. Both occasions saw the Red Devils wearing a white kit with a red collar. Amazingly, both kits were also manufactured by sportswear giant adidas.
In 1990, it was a headed goal from Mark Robins that secured passage into the next round while this time around it was a headed effort from Casemiro which made the difference. Man Utd then, of course, went on to win the trophy in both seasons; beating Crystal Palace and Manchester City in their respective finals.
Another stunning detail of the two cup runs is the semi-final ending 3-3 after extra-time. This year, ten Hag's Man Utd blew a 3-0 lead to Coventry before winning on penalties, ironically, with 1990 hero Robins in the dugout for the Championship side. Meanwhile in 1990, Man Utd drew 3-3 with Oldham after extra-time, and only secured passage to the final after winning 2-1 in extra-time of the replay.
Then, of course, there is the consequences of the results, aside from 1990 being the club's seventh FA Cup crown and 2024 being its 13th. Ferguson kept his job and went on to become the club's most successful manager ever, winning 5 FA Cups, 13 Premier League titles and 2 Champions Leagues among a host of other accolades.
Erik ten Hag has also kept his job and fans have been left convinced he will now go on to do great things at OId Trafford.
I am thrilled with ten Hag remaining at Manchester United. He has done an excellent job, given the resources at his disposal. He develops and nutures youth players. Two prime examples is Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo. I believe that there's no one else who can emulate what he has and can do for the future.