By: Matthew Polyak
Erik ten Hag’s job currently seems to be under threat, according to numerous sources. With inconsistent performances and off-the-pitch problems, supporters of one of England’s most successful clubs have seen enough.
But this proposition sparks a question. What is the primary issue with Manchester United? The club has been a revolving door of incoming and outgoing coaches in the last decade since the departure of the legendary coach Sir Alex Ferguson in 2013. Clearly, the system has not been working.
Sir Alex Ferguson left Aberdeen in Scotland for Manchester United’s head coach position on November 6th, 1986. He turned Manchester United into an English giant, winning 13 league titles and 2 European titles. He is a figure respected by all football fans, and for good reason too. Eventually, Sir Alex Ferguson departed Manchester United after coaching the team for 26 seasons. He is regarded as one of the best managers of all time.
You can imagine that it would be very difficult to fill the shoes of such a legendary figure. Everyone knew that there would be a drop off in performance, but they expected the team to eventually bounce back.
Sir Alex Ferguson hand picked David Moyes as his successor before his departure. Manchester United officially signed him on July 1st, 2013 from Everton. Moyes knew that he would be in the hot seat from the beginning and he would have to deliver results. His first official game in charge of Manchester United saw them beat Wigan Athletic 2-0 in the Community Shield Final (a final between last season’s FA Cup winner and Premier League winner at the beginning of the season). This would be the only trophy he would win.
Manchester United dipped into inconsistency during the 2013-14 season. On April 20th, the team sat in 7th position after a 2-0 loss to Everton at Old Trafford. Many former Manchester United players called for Moyes to be given extra time, but he was ultimately relieved of his duties 2 days later. The club’s midfielder Ryan Giggs was named as interim player-manager until the end of the season.
With Manchester United finishing in a low 7th position, their search for a new manager began. Who was their pick? The name was Louis van Gaal—a respected former Netherlands National Team player and manager. Van Gaal was confirmed to be Moyes’ replacement on May 19th, 2014 and became the first non-British person to manage Manchester United. Ryan Giggs also returned to the club to be Van Gaal’s assistant.
Van Gaal’s first competitive match was played in early August and ended in a 2-1 loss at home to Swansea City in the opening Barclays Premier League match of the 2014-15 season. Later that month, Manchester United would lose 4-0 to League One side Milton Keynes Dons, a team 2 divisions below Manchester United, in the 2nd round of the EFL League Cup. That would be their earliest ever exit from the tournament in their history.
Manchester United would find themselves in 9th place after 10 games. However, the form improved as the season progressed and Van Gaal’s first season saw the team bounce back to a 4th place finish, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League next season. The team also were quarter-finalists in the FA Cup.
The 2015-16 would see Van Gaal remain in management. Their start to the season was an improvement and at the end of September, the team sat at the top of the league. However, the teams went through a poor spell of form and by November, they were in 4th. The EFL League Cup was no help as they were eliminated by Middlesbrough, who at the time were a division lower than Manchester United.
Van Gaal’s team also suffered an exit in the UEFA Champions League, as they could not make it out of the group stage, with a 3-2 loss away to German side VFL Wolfsburg sealing their fate. This period of the season saw the side go on a 6 game winless streak.
After a 3-0 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur in April, numerous reports circulated that Van Gaal had lost the dressing room and players were beginning to turn on him. Reports cited that an anonymous group of players called him “clueless” and questioned his tactical decisions.
Van Gaal saw success in the FA Cup, winning the tournament courtesy of a 2-1 win over Crystal Palace. However, this would not save him as his side slumped to a 5th place league finish (meaning they would qualify for the UEFA Europa League). Both him and his staff were fired by the club just 2 days after the cup final.
The 2016-17 season saw Manchester United snag legendary manager José Mourinho, who was recently released from Chelsea. Mourinho’s side would win the preseason Community Shield final against champions Leicester City 2-1. His first league game was a 3-1 away win against AFC Bournemouth in early August.
Manchester United would end up losing 4-0 to Chelsea in October, leaving them six points away from first place. Mourinho would be charged by the FA after a 1-0 victory against rivals Manchester City at home in the EFL League Cup for comments he made about the referee. He would also get into trouble just 3 days later for making comments about a referee after a 0-0 draw at home to Burnley.
Manchester United would end up winning the EFL League Cup Final against Southampton and the UEFA Europa League Final against Ajax Amsterdam at the end of the season. These would be Mourinho’s only major trophies won at Manchester United. His side would finish the season in a disappointing 6th place but still would seal UEFA Champions League qualification thanks to the victory over Ajax Amsterdam.
The 2017-18 season saw Mourinho bolster up his side with more signings. Manchester United would lose the pre-season UEFA Super Cup Final 2-1 against European champions Real Madrid. They would, however, record a 4-0 victory at home against West Ham at their opening league fixture. Mourinho’s men would continue their strong start for the beginning of the season.
Their form, however, would dip thanks to a busy and difficult winter schedule, with the gap between them and rivals Manchester City widening. They would also suffer a UEFA Champions League exit in the Round of 16 against Spanish team Sevilla. Mourinho would then go on to have a 12 minute long rant defending his career, following heavy criticism after the game.
Manchester City would go on to have a record breaking finish with 100 points, while Manchester United would finish in 2nd, 19 points off of their rivals. They would seal UEFA Champions League qualification. Mourinho’s team would go on to lose the FA Cup Final against his former club Chelsea 1-0.
The 2018-19 season would be Mourinho’s last season in charge. Manchester United began the season with a 2-1 win over Leicester City but would then lose their next 2 games: 3-2 against Brighton and Hove Albion away and 3-0 against Tottenham Hotspur at home. The loss against Tottenham Hotspur caused outrage amongst both fans and the media. Mourinho responded with one of the most famous press conferences in Premier League history, again defending his career:
“It also means three Premierships, and I won more Premierships alone than the other 19 managers together. Three for me, two for them. Respect. Respect. Respect. Respect.”
Only problem—those 3 titles were won when he was at Chelsea. Manchester United fans were waiting for a league title. Unfortunately for them, they will have to keep waiting.
Manchester United would then go on to play Mourinho’s former club, Chelsea, on October 20th, 2018. Mourinho would become involved in a tunnel incident when a Chelsea coach celebrated in his face after the match ended in a draw. Mourinho chased the coach down the tunnel until security intervened.
With just 7 wins in 17 league games played so far, numerous reports circulated that Manchester United players had enough with the Portuguese coach. Sources linked with the club revealed that he had lost “90 percent” of the dressing room. Players apparently complained about Mourinho’s training style, and they accused their manager of being a bully for criticizing them too much. His players did not help him at all, and Mourinho was finally dismissed from the job on December 18th—19 points behind then league leaders Liverpool.
Manchester United opted to bring in former player Ole Gunnar Solskjær. He was appointed as caretaker manager for the rest of the season with the expectation that he would then depart, so the club could find a permanent manager.
His first match was against his former club, Cardiff City. The game finished with a 5-1 win to Manchester United. The team would go on a six game winning streak before suffering a draw 2-2 against Burnley. The successful run in January was enough for Solskjær to win Premier League Manager of the Month.
On March 28th, 2019, Solskjær would sign a three-year contract to take over as Manchester United manager permanently after winning 14 out of his first 19 games. After the contract deal, however, his team’s form would fall off of a cliff. They only won 2 games out of their last 10, with one of them being an awful 2-0 defeat to his former team Cardiff City, who would later suffer relegation to a lower division.
Manchester United finished the season in 6th place—the same position they were in when Solskjær took over. They were 32 points off of 1st place and 5 points off of 4th. They qualified for the UEFA Europa League. Solskjær knew that he had to get it right next season.
Manchester United started off the 2019-20 season with a 4-0 thrashing of Chelsea at home. However, good news would turn bad with them only taking 7 points form their next 8 league games and dropping off in form. January 2020 saw Solskjær’s team lose 2-0 to Burnley at home, leaving them with an embarrassing 34 points taken from 24 games (worse than last season’s tally at his point).
During that match, the Manchester United players were booed by their own fans and the club’s owners, The Glazer Family, had violent chants directed at them. This was when Old Trafford truly turned into a toxic atmosphere. Solskjær called for the fans to stick together and to support the players.
United in late January signed midfielder Bruno Fernandes. This signing sparked the team to perform well. Manchester United took 32 points from 14 games and went unbeaten for the rest of the season. Clearly, Manchester United were a team without a proper vision or philosophy, but new sparks were being shown under Solskjær later on through the season. The end of the season would be delayed due to COVID-19, but was played 2 months later, giving his players more time to train.
Manchester United finished the season with 66 points—the same tally as last year. Thus, they qualified for the UEFA Champions League. However, they finished 3rd instead of 6th. They finished 33 points behind both of their rivals: title winners Liverpool and runners-up Manchester City. They were knocked out in the Semi-Finals of both the FA Cup and the UEFA Europa League.
Manchester United started the 2020-21 season sluggishly, with them losing their first game of the league 3-1 at home against Crystal Palace. Solskjær’s men scored 7 points from their first 6 games.
This was including a disgraceful 6-1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur at home in October. Solskjær stated that the match was the worst defeat in his career. His 100th game in charge saw Manchester United lose 1-0 to Arsenal in November, where he said that simply, the Manchester United players “didn’t turn up.”
Manchester United would get knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the group stage, finishing 3rd in their group. They were relegated to the UEFA Europa League for the rest of their European campaign.
Solskjær’s team would travel to Burnley—winning 1-0. This result placed them in first place after 17 league games. This peak did not last long, as Manchester United capitulated against bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United to a 2-1 loss. Manchester City would eventually catch up to their rivals.
Somehow, the loss would propel Manchester United to go on a 14-game unbeaten streak in the league, with the premier match being a 9-0 victory over Southampton—equaling the league’s record for the largest win. On May 11th, their streak ended after a 2-1 loss at home to Leicester City. This period really proves how inconsistent Manchester United is.
The team ended the season in a runners-up 2nd place (12 points behind Manchester City) and qualified for the UEFA Champions League, but still had problems with consistency, as mentioned above. This season would be one of Manchester United’s best since Sir Alex Ferguson, but however, the club’s declining standards were quite visible. They would eventually make it to the UEFA Europa League Final, eventually losing on penalties to Spain’s Villarreal 11-10 (after a 1-1 draw).
Even though Solskjær signed a 3-year contract extension in July of 2021, the 2021-22 season would be his last at the helm of Manchester United. The season started off strong with a 5-1 thrashing of traditional rivals Leeds United. Manchester United also facilitated the signing of the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo, who would return to England for his 2nd spell at the club.
After a couple of league wins and last-minute winners in Europe, Manchester United’s season completely fell apart. First would be a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa. Their next defeat would be a disgraceful 5-0 loss at home to arch-rivals Liverpool. Ole was no longer at the wheel—and the car was out of control.
Solskjær’s team would go on to lose 2-0 against city rivals Manchester City and then on the 20th of November, they would lose 4-1 away against Watford, a relegation candidate. Their previous 5 league games saw them concede an eye-opening 15 goals. Ole was in the hot seat.
Reports flooded social media with the tabloids writing that Solskjær had lost the dressing room. Throughout his tenure, players complained about him. Eric Bailey questioned why Harry Maguire played instead of him, and Jesse Lingered, Alex Telles, and Nemanja Matic were unhappy with how Solskjær managed them. They would complain about their manager being too “soft” and said that the Liverpool loss made them look like “s**t.” The players simply gave up on Solskjær, and ultimately threw another manager under the bus.
Club legend Michael Carrick took over temporarily until the club selected Ralf Rangnick, who would then take over as interim manager until the end of the season. Rangnick was not a head coach but more of a director of football, so the decision was questioned by Manchester United fans. Some reports said that the players also were confused about why Rangnick was selected as manager.
Rangnick’s time at the club would be the worst managerial career for anyone at Manchester United—and you can’t solely blame him. He was not an experienced manager and worked more behind the scenes. He also entered one of the most toxic dressing rooms in Manchester United’s history. Notice a trend? The players never help their managers.
Anyway, his first match was a victory against Crystal Palace 1-0. He would oversee another disgraceful loss against Liverpool, this time away 4-0. Rangnick suggested that Liverpool were way ahead of Manchester United and expressed his frustrations with both the club’s higher-ups and the players.
Rumors, once again, spread about yet another Manchester United manager and how he had lost the dressing room. Players were reportedly very unhappy about the decisions he made towards those who he believed were “underperforming.”
The final league match of the 2021-22 season was a 1-0 loss away to Crystal Palace. Manchester United finished 6th with 58 points—their lowest points tally in Premier League history. They also were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League in the Round of 16. Rangnick was supposed to remain in a consulting position for the next 2 years but decided to depart from the club.
Manchester United suffered through a terrible campaign. They clearly needed someone who could uplift the team and guide them to some stability and consistency. Their choice? Erik ten Hag from Ajax Amsterdam.
Erik ten Hag’s first game in charge of Manchester United’s 2022-23 league campaign saw them suffer a 2-1 home defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion. A subsequent 4-0 away defeat to Brentford followed. Results would eventually improve for ten Hag as he would become the fastest Manchester United manager to win 20 games—doing so after 27 games played.
Manchester United would go on to beat Newcastle United 2-1 in the EFL League Cup Final, winning their first trophy since 2017. However, ten Hag’s men suffered an embarrassing 7-0 defeat away to Liverpool—their joint worst-ever defeat and their worst-ever defeat against Liverpool.
Manchester United reached the FA Cup Final but lost out on the trophy to Manchester City 2-1. They finished the league campaign in 3rd place, qualifying for the UEFA Champions League. It looked like stability would finally return to the exhausted Old Trafford faithful.
A 1-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers would be Manchester United’s opening fixture for the 2023-24 season. They would go on to crash out of the EFL League Cup after a 3-0 loss at home to Newcastle United, whom they defeated in the final last season. November saw Erik ten Hag win Manager of the Month after a good run of league games. Manchester United would eventually crash out of the UEFA Champions League and Europe altogether in the group stages—a 1-0 defeat at home against German giants Bayern Munich sealing their fate.
Ten Hag’s men suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Newcastle in the league, sparking large-scale outrage, specifically at players who performed very poorly. It would take a 3-0 home defeat to AFC Bournemouth for players to begin leaking their dislikes about the manager anonymously to the media. Numerous fans labeled both performances as “the worst performances from Manchester United in recent history.”
Players had complained that ten Hag made them train too hard and that they were overworked and were running more than they had wanted to. Senior Manchester United players also reportedly asked the Dutch manager for more days off and advanced notice for heavier physical training days.
Seriously? This is Manchester United. Players who play for such a big club should not be complaining about “training too hard.” They should be wanting to train more. Understandably, players are human, but they are paid millions to play a sport. They should expect to push their limits.
Anyway, the clear problems at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s departure have been the players. They have thrown every manager under the bus. From Moyes to Rangnick and now, possibly, ten Hag. For now, it seems that Manchester United will stick behind ten Hag. But with new owners possibly coming in, his future is surely unknown.
Those who analyze Manchester United often point to ten Hag being at fault for the results. One could agree that his signings haven’t been great, his substitutions and team selections haven’t been great, and his falling out with senior players haven’t been helpful, but he has pulled many good results together for the club.
It seems that the players fall into a cycle: They get a new manager, back him, play for him, find something to complain about or fall out with him if there is a disagreement, then turn on the manager, leak reports to the media, and essentially throw them under the bus.
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane phrased this thinking best during a segment for British broadcaster Sky Sports, just after the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjær in November 2021:
“United players stopped running in the past couple of months.These players don’t [take responsibility]… the damage is done. I did say, over the last year or two, leopards don’t change their spots.”
Keane continued:
“They don’t seem like good enough lads to me in terms of that leadership. Maybe Ole was too friendly with them, maybe that was the problem, maybe he was too nice to these lads because these lads have done what I predicted and thrown him under the bus, and that’s what they do.”
The best thing that can happen to Manchester United would be a complete ownership takeover along with a deep cleansing of the squad. This is no accusation that the whole team is toxic; however, there are specific figures who keep leaking private information to the tabloids, attempting to get one over the manager if they do not get their way, and it is so clear.
A club that brings in world-class managers like Mourinho and decent managers like Solskjær, Van Gaal, Moyes, and ten Hag and doesn’t succeed has a much deeper problem. The higher-ups at the club seem to think that just switching the manager and not refreshing the squad or even coaching staff is enough. It is not, and supporters worldwide have seen enough. For a team with such history, it just simply is a shame.
Scribemen Magazine 