ERIK TEN HAG’s downfall at Manchester United may have started NINETEEN MONTHS ago.
The Dutchman was sacked as Red Devils boss on Monday, following the 2-1 defeat to West Ham at the weekend.
Although Sunday’s Hammer blow may have been the result that burst Ten Hag’s bubble, it was a game over a year ago that started his descent into unemployment.
New stats from Opta show that United’s 7-0 humiliation at the hands of Liverpool in March 2023 was the turning point in Ten Hag’s tenure.
Not only was that result the moment that much of the Man Utd faithful lost faith in the gaffer, but it’s also when the wheels began to come off.
Prior to the defeat at Anfield, Ten Hag’s United had boasted a 73 PER CENT win rate, losing just six games over the course of the manager’s first 41 matches in all competitions.
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But things started to look bleak after their 7-0 embarrassment with the win percentage plummeting to just 46 PER CENT from that game onwards.
Including the 7-0 defeat, United lost 29 GAMES in 87 fixtures from March 2023 until last weekend.
And their defence certainly got leakier in that time too.
Prior to the Anfield battering, United were averaging 0.95 goals conceded per game, but saw that increase by over half to an average of 1.45 goals conceded per game.
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And they clearly lost their shooting boots too.
United had managed to find the net an average of 1.95 times per game when Ten Hag first came in, but only scored 1.57 goals per game after the Liverpool result.
In fact, despite playing more than double the amount of games since the defeat, United only won ten more games in that time.
Ten Hag’s United side were left red faced on a number of occasions since their Liverpool nightmare too.
In the games that have passed since, United lost 4-0 to Crystal Palace and 3-0 to Bournemouth, Tottenham and Liverpool again.
Ten Hag’s time has now come to an end and the chiefs at the Manchester giants are in search of a new manager to turn things around.
For now, former star Ruud van Nistelrooy will steady the ship as interim boss.
But it looks like Sporting Lisbon manager Ruben Amorim is favourite to come in as the new permanent gaffer at the club.
The Portuguese tactician is reportedly close to agreeing a deal to sign on and place himself in the hot-seat at Old Trafford.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
