Pressure is building on Erik ten Hag and history tells us it’s a long road back when Manchester United are in crisis… here’s how it ended for his Old Trafford predecessors
- Erik ten Hag is under mounting pressure amid Man United’s disastrous start
- The end of his predecessors’ tenures should serve as a warning to the Dutchman
- Is Erik ten Hag out of his depth at Man United? Listen here to It’s All Kicking Off!
Here we go again. Manchester United in crisis. The manager under pressure.
Erik ten Hag is the latest to feel the heat, the Dutchman the bookies’ second favourite to become the next Premier League boss to be sacked.
Back-to-back 3-0 home defeats by Manchester City in the Old Trafford derby and a weakened Newcastle team in the Carabao Cup have plunged Ten Hag into crisis just 18 months after he was appointed.
Sir Alex Ferguson spent more than a quarter of a century in charge of United, but none of his successors have lasted particularly long in the job.
As Ten Hag fights to avoid becoming the latest ex-United manager, Mail Sport looks at the tipping points for the four men who preceded him…
Erik ten Hag has been left scratching his head at Manchester United’s poor start to the season
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DAVID MOYES
Olympiacos 2-0 Man United, February 2014
After United suffered a shock defeat by the Greeks, ex-Old Trafford chief Ed Woodward took a picture of the scoreboard in Piraeus and kept it on his desk as a reminder of what it was like to hit rock bottom. If only he knew.
Moyes’s team retrieved the tie at home three weeks later, winning 3-0 to move into the quarter-finals where they lost to Bayern Munich. But the damage was done.
The Chosen One had been anointed by Ferguson, but Woodward was already looking for a replacement.
Moyes didn’t last the season.
It was a 2-0 away defeat to Olympiacos which was the beginning of the end for David Moyes
LOUIS VAN GAAL
Stoke 2-0 Man United, December 2015
The Dutchman suffered a nightmare before Christmas in 2015 when a run of four straight defeats culminated in a miserable Boxing Day in the Potteries and convinced the United board that change was needed in the summer.
Van Gaal steadied the ship but offered to quit following another defeat at home to Southampton a month later.
Woodward persuaded his manager to have a change of heart but knew it was only a temporary reprieve.
When a much happier Van Gaal lifted the FA Cup in May, he quickly realised it would be his farewell gift to the club.
Following defeat at Stoke City, United were already planning for life after Louis van Gaal
JOSE MOURINHO
Liverpool 3-1 Man United, December 2018
It’s hard to pin down Mourinho’s demise at United to a single game.
Once the Portuguese had vacated the premises and the club was in detox, one senior executive described Mourinho’s departure as ‘death by a thousand cuts’, so plentiful were the reasons for sacking him.
By the time United arrived at Anfield shortly before Christmas, the cuts had turned into open wounds – none bigger than Mourinho’s rift with Paul Pogba who was an unused substitute in a lame defeat against their bitter rivals.
Mourinho was gone 48 hours later and few tears were shed.
Jose Mourinho (right) was binned after United were routinely beaten away against Liverpool
OLE GUNNAR SOLSKJAER
Man United 0-5 Liverpool / Man United 0-2 Man City – October/November 2021
Back-to-back home defeats against United’s big rivals in the autumn of 2021 persuaded the Old Trafford hierarchy there would be no happy ending to Solskjaer’s fairytale return.
United were hammered by Liverpool at Old Trafford and it was just as bad in the Manchester derby, even if the scoreline didn’t do justice to City’s dominance.
The plan was to keep him on until the end of the season, but a 4-1 defeat at Watford meant Solskjaer was gone by the end of November.
Two home defeats to Liverpool and Manchester City put paid to belief in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
IT’S ALL KICKING OFF!
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