Are the Manchester United Players Responsible for Erik ten Hag’s Sacking?
A lot has been said on social media about the sacking of Erik ten Hag. Some Manchester United fans felt the sacking was due at the end of last season. Other fans wanted him to get more time. A bigger part of the fanbase was furious at the players; well, these players sacked a lot of managers before, and they are responsible for ten Hag’s sacking too. Some questioned the quality of the squad.
Are the players really responsible for Erik ten Hag’s sacking, or was the job he was doing just not good enough?
A Squad Assembled By Erik ten Hag
Whether these players are responsible for the sacking, a deeper overview of the squad is required.
In goalkeeping, Manchester United has André Onana, Altay Bayindir, and Tom Heaton. Erik ten Hag has signed both the starting goalkeeper and the backup goalkeeper, both of whom have never played for another Manchester United manager.
Regarding the defensive line, the Red Devils have Lisandro Martinez, Tyrell Malacia, Diogo Dalot, Noussair Mazraoui, Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof, Johnny Evans, Luke Shaw, Lenny Yoro, and Matthis De Ligt. From the 10 defenders Manchester United has, four players were there before ten Hag took charge of Manchester United. Only Diogo Dalot, Luke Shaw, Victor Lindelof, and Harry Maguire could be considered part of the “old guard.”.
In the midfield, there is only one player that played for another Manchester United manager other than the Dutchman: Bruno Fernandes. All other midfielders in the Manchester United team were either acquired during Erik ten Hag’s tenure as manager or, in the case of Kobbie Mainoo, promoted by the Dutch coach.
In attack, Alejandro Garnacho has been fully promoted to the first team during the now-departed manager’s reign. Antony, Joshua Zirkzee, and Rasmus Hojlund have been signed during the Dutchman’s tenure. Amad has returned from loan based on his instructions; after all, the Ivorian forward played only nine games for Manchester United before Erik ten Hag. The only one remaining from the “old guard” is Marcus Rashford.
All in all, only six players of the current Manchester United squad have been there when other managers were sacked.
The fanbase wanted a rebuild to suit the manager’s vision and got one. 16 new players got into the first team, whether through the academy or signings. Amad Diallo returned from loan. 17 players in this squad did not play regularly for any other Red Devils manager other than Erik ten Hag. Erik ten Hag assembled and oversaw this SQUAD. Unfortunately, the vision that he was trying to implement was not good enough.
Now let’s take a look at the old guard, or as the fanbase like to call them the problem.
The Old Guard – The Problem?
Now, after establishing the fact that only six players of this squad were there before Erik ten Hag, it is time to look at each one of them.
Harry Maguire: Arguably Manchester United best player last season. He handled the captaincy stripping issue professionally, and every Manchester United fan will dread where they would have been without his performances last season.
Diogo Dalot: The Portuguese fullback has been made a starter and an essential member of the squad by the Dutchman. He covered left back and right back valiantly last season. Also, one of the Red Devils best performers.
Victor Lindelof: In 2022/2023, he played in 35 games out of 59. Started only 14 Premier League games and six Europa League games. Last season, he played in 28 games out of 53. At his best, he is a squad member.
Luke Shaw: Did not line up for the Red Devils since February 2024. Played in only 15 games last season. The English left back also had his contract renewed during the Dutchman’s tenure.
Bruno Fernandes: The best thing that happened to Manchester United since SAF retired. 28 goal contributions in 59 games in 2022/2023 and 28 goal contributions in 28 games in 2023/2024. 56 goal contributions in Erik ten Hag’s two full seasons. Also, he was assigned as Team Captain by the Dutchman.
Marcus Rashford: 41 goal contributions in 2022/2023 and 14 goal contributions in 43 games in 2023/2024. The English winger and Bruno Fernandes are equal, with the most goal contributions during the Dutch manager’s two full seasons. Also, he had his contract renewed in Erik ten Hag’s tenure.
So, from the old guard, three players—Shaw, Dalot, and Rashford—had their contracts renewed when they could have left as free agents. If they were such a dressing room problem, why didn’t Erik ten Hag let them leave when he had the chance? After all, he let Pogba, Dean Henderson, De Gea, Ronaldo, and Sancho leave for attitude issues.
The other three are ones who barely play in Victor Lindelöf, arguably Manchester United’s best performer the last season in Harry Maguire, and the one who the Dutch coach made team captain in Bruno Fernandes. It looks like the “old guard,” who is supposedly the problem, is pretty good. Even ten Hag admitted that by renewing their contracts or, in Bruno Fernandes’ case, giving him the captaincy.
In fact, the “old guard” is a big part of why Manchester United overperformed in his two seasons in charge. Numbers support this fact.
Players’ Quality Resulting in Overperformance
In 2022/2023, Manchester United finished third with 75 points. Looking at the Premier League expected points table, the Red Devils should have finished sixth with 66.4 expected points. An overperformance of 8.6 points.
Looking at the disastrous 2023/2024, Manchester United finished eighth with 60 points. The Premier League expected points table put the Red Devils in fifteenth place with 44.42 expected points. An overperformance of 15.58 points, which was by far the biggest margin in the Premier League.
A squad that wanted their manager sacked does not over-perform their expected points two seasons in a row. The only reason Manchester United were not in a relegation battle last season is due to their players’ quality.
Players Outlive Managers in Every Club in the World
Guess what? Good players outlive managers who fail. Luka Modric outlived Ancelotti, Zidane, Lopotefui, Solari, Zidane again, and Ancelotti again. Not because he is the reason managers get sacked; it is because he is good enough. Eden Hazard played for Roberto Di Matteo, Jose Mourinho, Antonio Conte, and Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea.
Robert Lewandowski, Joshua Kimmich, and Manuel Neuer played for Pep Guardiola, Jupp Heyneckes, Niko Kovac, Hansi Flick, Julian Nagglesman, and Carlo Ancelotti at Bayern Munich. Xavi, Iniesta, and Messi worked with Frank Rijkaard, Pep Guardiola, Tito Vilanova, Luis Enrique, and Gerardo Martino in Barcelona.
In every football club, you will find players that outlive managers. The reason is not because these players sack managers or are dressing room issues; it is because they are good enough to play for any manager.
Conclusion
This was an Erik ten Hag squad. This is not an opinion; it is a fact. If the players were not good enough, that was on him. If he failed to get his ideas across to them, that is also on him. He has signed or promoted 16 players, and he has renewed the contracts of three of them when they could have left as free agents and had replacements signed. 80% of this squad never played for any other Manchester United manager other than him.
This squad may not have the required quality to win the league, but it is good enough to finish in the Top 6. No matter what anybody thinks of the squad quality. This is not a team that should be producing performances worthy of the fifteenth position in the league!
There is no big conspiracy that “these players” sack managers. Only two—Shaw and Rashford—were present in the Louis van Gaal, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and Jose Mourinho eras. Luke Shaw was a young kid who just joined from Southampton and barely played under LVG due to his horror leg injury. Rashford was a young kid just promoted from the academy at the end of van Gaal’s tenure. Surely, we can all agree that they did not have that much power and influence in the dressing room during the Louis Van Gaal era to turn it on the manager.
By the end of Mourinho’s tenure, Diogo Dalot and Victor Lindelof had signed on but had hardly played for him. Maguire was Ole’s chosen captain, and Bruno was ten Hag’s. If they are such dressing room problems and sack managers, why have they been made captains? 95% of Manchester United’s squad only played for Solskjaer and Erik ten Hag. They are not a reason for any other managers’ sackings because they never played for them. Like it or not, that is a fact.
Erik ten Hag is a good coach; he may well go and be successful somewhere else. I am sure he tried his best at Manchester United, but unfortunately, it was not good enough. There is no deep state big conspiracy theory where “the old guard” assembles in Bruno Fernandes’ living room and decides we are going to sack this manager. The fanbase needs to accept that things sometimes do not work out no matter how much we want them to.
The best thing ten Hag did for Amorim was gaslighting the fanbase into thinking this squad is not good enough for a Top 4 or Top 6 finish. He also gaslighted the fanbase into thinking that having the worst Premier League and Champions League campaigns in the Red Devils’ history while winning the FA Cup is a “successful season.”. He lowered the expectations and made everyone believe that the players were not good enough. If Amorim struggles, the players are not good enough anyway.
The fanbase wants to always find a singular problem to cling to the hope that whenever it is fixed, Manchester United will be back. It is not one problem; there are multiple ones. Lack of long-term vision and planning, hiring managers without any idea on how to build a squad that suits their vision, not backing nor empowering managers and owners’ greed, just to name a few. Fortunately, it looks like all of them are getting fixed under INEOS leadership.
I was ready to move on from ten Hag and will always be grateful to him for the two trophies he won. I just could not stand anymore the myth that the players are the reason for his sacking.
The players are not the reason ten Hag got sacked; they are the only reason he started this season as Manchester United manager.
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