The numbers behind United sacking their fifth full-time boss since Sir Alex
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The numbers behind United sacking their fifth full-time boss since Sir Alex

ByNews Polite

Erik ten Hag was keen to emphasise how injuries and luck had gone against him, but the Dutchman’s protestations proved an aggravating factor for Manchester United fans – and, perhaps, the club’s decision-makers – in the context of his time in charge at the club.

After taking over for the 2022-23 season, Ten Hag lost 35 of 128 games in all competitions and had a slightly higher win percentage than United’s previous permanent manager, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Louis van Gaal has the lowest overall figure of the five permanent bosses to have been employed by United following the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement in 2013. David Moyes – the first of those successors – has the next-worst, with Ten Hag’s figure only bettered by Jose Mourinho.

Those five managers in order of highest win percentage are Mourinho (58.3%), Ten Hag (54.7%), Solskjaer (54.2%), Moyes (52.9%) and Van Gaal (52.4%), according to BBC Sport.

Ten Hag Premier League wins

Only Moyes, on 32.4%, lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games than Ten Hag (31.8%), according to Opta. United’s defeat at West Ham on Sunday, though, meant United have lost more than 44% of their top-flight matches this season.

United’s dreadful form justifies the Ineos Group, who took over the footballing side of the club in February, acting now. No manager in the club’s history has a lower win percentage than Ten Hag’s tally of four from 14 matches in all competitions in 2024-25, representing less than 29%.

Captain Bruno Fernandes has called on United fans to remember the rare high points of Ten Hag’s time at Old Trafford and their two glorious days under him were enough for the former Ajax manager to keep his job for more than two years.

Ten Hag trophies

A Carabao Cup win in 2022-23 and an FA Cup triumph last season made Ten Hag the only United manager apart from Mourinho to have lifted multiple trophies since Ferguson.

The surprise FA Cup final win over Manchester City in May persuaded Ineos to trigger a one-year extension in his contract, following reports before the showpiece that he would be sacked regardless of the result.

Ten Hag bemoaned his players’ finishing at West Ham, where Diogo Dalot produced an extraordinary miss and there were several other opportunities for United to have established a comfortable lead.

But their defensive record under Ten Hag was arguably more damaging to him.

United goals gloom under Ten Hag

United finished with a negative goal difference for the first time in the Premier League era last season, with no side in the top 10 scoring fewer than their total of 57.

No manager post-Ferguson comes close to the average of 1.29 goals conceded by Ten Hag’s teams, according to PA Sport, via The Irish News. Between Ferguson leaving and Ten Hag’s arrival, United let in less than a goal a game, on average.

At the other end, third-bottom Ipswich Town have scored one more than United’s eight from nine matches this time around. Only bottom side Southampton and fourth-bottom Crystal Palace have fared worse in front of goal.

Ten Hag in Europe

Ajax were widely-admired for reaching the 2018-19 Champions League semi-finals with Ten Hag at the helm, only losing to Tottenham on away goals after an extravagantly dramatic tie.

There was no such swashbuckling for Ten Hag’s United on the continent, with eight of their nine wins in 21 games coming during the Europa league campaign of his first season.

Before an eighth-placed finish in 2023-24 that was their worst since 1989-90, Ten Hag restored United to the Champions League by guiding them to third in 2022-23.

They came bottom of a group containing Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Copenhagen, losing four and winning one of their six games.

That last victory in Europe came exactly a year before their 1-1 draw at Fenerbahce in the Europa League on Thursday, leaving United with three draws from their first three games in this season’s competition.

“This team has character and this team shows fighting spirit and determination to win games,” Ten Hag said after a spectacular Andre Onana double save helped United earn a point against Mourinho’s current club.

One win in his last 11 European games shows how infrequently they turned that into results.



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