Soccer

MANCHESTER UNITED have kept it short and sweet with a terse statement after dismissing Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman was given his marching orders on Monday following a dismal run of form. Erik ten Hag has been sacked as manager of Manchester UnitedCredit: AlamyThe Dutchman has been in charge at Old Trafford since April 2022Credit: AlamyMan Utd fell to a 2-1 defeat against West Ham yesterday after a controversial late Jarrod Bowen penalty.It proved to be the final straw for the board, who sacked Ten Hag on Monday morning. A short 87-word statement on United’s official website read: “Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United men’s first-team manager.”Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.READ MORE ON MAN UTD”We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future.”Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.”SunSport understands the board’s decision was unanimous after a string of poor performances and results. Old Trafford chiefs gave Ten Hag a one-year extension in the summer after winning the FA Cup. Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSThey were keen for the Dutchman to work under a new sporting structure but pulled the trigger with no sign of performances improving. United have won just 4 of their last 14 games across all competitions.Erik ten Hag angry with VAR for ‘interfering’ as West Ham penalty wounds Man Utd The Red Devils are languishing 14th in the Premier League after one of the worst starts in their history. They have just three wins from nine league games and a dismal goal difference of -3. After being announced as interim boss, Van Nistelrooy remains the frontrunner to replace Ten Hag permanently. Rudd van Nistelrooy has taken over as temporary boss at Old TraffordCredit: ReutersWhy NOBODY is the right man to replace Erik ten Hag at Man UtdSunSport’s DAVE KIDD says Erik ten Hag’s time at Man Utd is up… and explains what’s wrong with all the potential candidates to replace him.THIS is a mid-table squad at an underachieving club, with a lot of unwanted players on big money.And Ratcliffe is an instinctive cost-cutter who may not pay top dollar to the next manager.If this club wasn’t called ‘Manchester United’, it wouldn’t be an especially desirable job.The good news for United is that their new sporting director, Dan Ashworth, is a very decent judge of a manager.He has been instrumental in three previous managerial appointments — Gareth Southgate for England, Graham Potter for Brighton and Eddie Howe for Newcastle.None were wildly popular at the time, all were conspicuous successes.Interestingly, Ashworth’s No 1 choice for the Newcastle job was Unai Emery, who turned him down to stay at Villarreal but has since proved that judgment right by excelling at Aston Villa.And the Spaniard would be an excellent fit for United — yet there is next to no chance that he would abandon Villa’s Champions League campaign to take the Old Trafford job, not least because he isn’t a stark raving madman.Howe would be another good candidate to succeed Ten Hag but, although he has become frustrated on Tyneside, the Saudis would surely not allow Ratcliffe to poach Howe, as they reluctantly did with Ashworth.Potter is available but his Chelsea experience and lack of charisma would make him a tough sell.Which brings us to Southgate, who remains close with Ashworth and is an excellent man-manager who was seriously considered by United last spring.Yet, despite having led England to two of their three major finals, Southgate’s reputation for over-caution was only enhanced during the Euros.Mauricio Pochettino, passed over twice by United, is out of the equation having taken the United States job.Thomas Tuchel would also have been a popular and gettable option – but England got in there first.Likewise, Roberto De Zerbi, now at Marseille after his brief Brighton stint sparkled then fizzled out.Kieran McKenna — a gifted former United coach who has won back-to-back promotions with Ipswich Town — is an intriguing candidate but the imminent vacancy may come a year or so too soon.Marco Silva, the extremely under-rated Fulham boss, has been on United’s radar and should not be discounted.Sporting Lisbon’s Ruben Amorim, last season’s ‘next big thing’, was passed over by West Ham as well as Liverpool this summer and is not an easy man to pin down.Zinedine Zidane, who has taken over from Alan Curbishley as a 20-1 shot for every Premier League job, is a ‘figurehead’ manager and not an Ashworth type.Ruud van Nistelrooy, the former United goal machine who joined Ten Hag’s coaching team in the summer is the bookies’ favourite. Simply because he’s in the building and he’s Dutch.So, yes, getting rid of Ten Hag is the easy part.The former United striker, 48, was brought back to the club over the summer as part of a backroom refresh. He has previous management experience at PSV Eindhoven, where he won 33 out of 51 games. More

PREMIER LEAGUE fans are in for the tightest title race ever, according to our supercomputer.Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal are already desperately scrapping for the top spot just nine games into the 2024-25 season.Man City are tipped to win the Premier League on goal difference, according to our supercomputerCredit: APArsenal are set to miss out on a first Premier League title since 2003-04 on a dramatic final dayCredit: GettyMan Utd are set to finish in their lowest position in Premier League historyCredit: GettyChelsea are being tipped to break back into the top four this termCredit: GettyPep Guardiola’s side – who have won the last few titles in a row, and six of the last seven – are back on top after Liverpool and Arsenal played out an entertaining 2-2 draw at the Emirates.That came after City edged a tight 1-0 win over struggling Southampton 24 hours earlier.And the supercomputer reckons the Premier League title race will now go all the way to the final day.In fact, two clubs are expected to finish LEVEL on points, with goal difference having the final say for only the second time ever.READ MORE SPORT STORIESCity famously won their first Premier League crown in the 2011-12 season on the back of Sergio Aguero’s last-gasp winner to deny Manchester United the crown on the final day.Their superior goal difference saw Sir Alex Ferguson and Co denied yet another gong.And in 2024-25, Man City are expected to do it again – tipped to edge Arsenal thanks to a +57 goal difference, ahead of the Gunners’ +48,The stats suggest both teams are set to finish on 95 points, with Liverpool just falling off in what was expected to be a rebuild year under new boss Arne Slot to end on a still-monumental 88 points.Most read in FootballCASINO SPECIAL – BEST CASINO WELCOME OFFERSChelsea are expected to break back into the top four with 76 points – ahead of Aston Villa (67), Brighton (63) and Newcastle (60) in the final European places.At the other end of the table, Southampton are set to JUST avoid becoming the worst team in Premier League history.Erik ten Hag angry with VAR for ‘interfering’ as West Ham penalty wounds Man Utd Russell Martin’s struggling Saints are tipped to rack up 12 points from their 38 games – just one point more than Derby, who accumulated just 11 points in the 2007-08 season.Ipswich are tipped to head straight back to the Championship with 19 points.And Wolves, despite showing signs of life after their outrageously difficult start to the season, are expected to join them with just 24 points.Forgot the “magic 40-point mark” this season – in fact, Leicester will survive with just 29 points, according to our supercomputer, courtesy of JeffBet.Crystal Palace (34) and Everton (37) will also avoid the drop despite not reaching 40 points.But arguably the biggest story of the season sees Man Utd finish in their LOWEST-EVER position in the Premier League. Erik ten Hag’s struggling squad limped to a 2-1 defeat against West Ham at the weekend to leave them 14th.Southampton are set to finish on the second-worst points tally in Premier League history with just 12 from their 38 matchesCredit: ReutersMan Utd ratings vs West HamTHE LONDON STADIUM was the venue for the latest defeat in a shocker of a season.To be fair, it was a hugely controversial VAR call in the dying moments that handed West Ham a 2-1 win.And the first half from the Red Devils was impressive.Here’s how SunSport’s Jack Rosser rated the players…Andre Onana – 6Very loose with the ball at his feet early on but soon settled.Manchester United conceded from West Ham’s first shot on target, though given Ings’ deflected strike there was little Onana could have done about it.Diogo Dalot – 5Delivered one of the most entertaining missed chances you will see all season – doing so well to clip the ball past Lukasz Fabianski before smashing the ball high and wide of an open goal.Despite that, had little trouble from those in claret and blue attacking down his side until Summerville was introduced. The former Leeds man tested Dalot a number of times with his pace.Redeemed himself a touch with the header back in ahead of Casemiro’s equaliser.Matthijs de Ligt – 6Hard done by in conceding the penalty for what looked a soft challenge on Hammers striker Ings.Restricted West Ham well for the most part but United never looked entirely comfortable at the back and a more potent attack could have caused much more trouble.Lisandro Martinez – 6Struggled at times to deal with the strength and direct nature of Michail Antonio, who tested all across United’s back line well until he was replaced by Ings.Noussair Mazraoui – 5Struggled to keep a handle on both Bowen and former Manchester United man Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the most part and was thrown around by Michail Antonio at times.Having looked soft at the back he also offered very little going forwards down the left.Casemiro – 6Started strongly dominating in the middle but struggled to wrestle that back when West Ham picked up.Was denied a first half goal by Fabianski’s superb save but got one eventually as he refused to give up and made sure the ball.Christian Eriksen – 5Some flashes of creativity in the first half but could not help United keep control in the second after West Ham perked up.Marcus Rashford – 4Entirely absent throughout the hour he was on the pitch. Played down the right he was easily managed by Emerson Palmieri who had little of note to do before the winger went off.Bruno Fernandes – 7Caused huge problems for West Ham and created plenty of chances which his teammates put to waste.Fernandes made a fine run to meet a Casemiro cross but headed over the bar and had to watch both Garnacho and Dalot pass up huge chances after his good work to set them up – especially the latter, a wonderful looped ball to cut out the entire West Ham defence.Alejandro Garnacho – 5The young winger should have had two goals inside the opening eight minutes. One chance was rattled against the bar before a poor finish sent the second wide of the far post.He continued to cause trouble down the left but faded as the game went on and crucially gave the ball away in the build-up to Summerville’s goal.Rasmus Hojlund – 5Drew a couple of saves from Hammers keeper Fabianski but neither looked too difficult.The Dane was rather comfortably dealt with by West Ham’s central defenders and never looked too much of a threat.SubstitutesAmad Diallo – 6Added some life and threat to a forward line which had offered little after the break and lifted a clever ball over to Dalot in the build-up to Casemiro’s goal.Joshua Zirkzee – 5Claimed an assist but did not know a lot about it and struggled to have an impact from there on.Victor Lindelof – n/aUnused subs: Altay Bayindir, Manuel Ugarte, Jonny Evans, Ethan Wheatley, Harry Amass, Jack Fletcher.And it won’t get much better for them for the rest of the season, either, with the Red Devils on course to end up 12th with just 50 points from their 38 games.Man Utd’s worst-ever finish came last season, when under-fire Ten Hag led them to eighth.United ended up seventh in David Moyes’ disastrous few months at the club after succeeding Fergie.READ MORE SUN STORIESThe Red Devils have also finished sixth three times (2016-17, 2018-19 and 2021-22).But they’ve never finished in the bottom half… until this season, it would seem. 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