Why Ten Hag failed at Manchester United

Copy Link

Email

Print

Reactions

Like

84

Laugh

Interesting

Erik ten Hag craved control at Manchester United but it meant that, with problems piling up, there was nowhere to hide. In the end, his fingerprints were all over too much of the failure -- there were no excuses left -- and Sunday's 2-1 defeat at West Ham United proved to be his final act as manager.

Ten Hag did it his way, accommodated by the club at almost every turn, but still couldn't make it work. On a preseason trip to Oslo in the summer of 2023, he complained to club staff that the grass at the Ullevaal Stadion was longer than had been agreed. He was told that rain in the Norwegian capital overnight led to unexpected growth, and it was…