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The rollercoaster ride that is will or won’t Erik ten Hag be sacked this summer has finally come to an end with the Dutchman still at the helm for the Red Devils.
With much speculation around ten Hag’s future at the club coming from the performances in both the Premier League and Champions League this year, the 54-year-old had a lot riding on the FA Cup final vs Manchester City last month as United’s final game of the season and last chance at securing European football next year.
Thankfully for United fans and ten Hag, the Red Devils saw off City 2-1 thanks to goals from Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho, seeing the Dutchman win his second trophy in two years at the club, and granting United a slot in the Europa League next season.
Naturally, ten Hag would have been hoping this was enough to secure his place as manager at least until the end of his contract in 2025, with fans rallying round the manager for pulling off the unexpected win.
Now, a three week long post-season review later, and Manchester United have decided to keep the Dutchman in charge at Old Trafford, allowing for full focus now to be on the transfer market to strengthen the squad for next season.
However, now that review is over, reports are coming out that ten Hag had a significant ally in the Manchester United boardroom pushing for the club to stand by the Dutchman.
The Times have reported that INEOS’ director of sport, Sir Dave Brailsford, is a key member of Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s United team and was the biggest support to ten Hag keeping his job at Old Trafford.
Ultimately, United’s extensive injury list last season was deemed a significant factor impeding the side’s form and by result, ten Hag’s success. Yet despite this, ten Hag has managed to use this as a way of developing his younger players who have stepped up to the mark and managed to win the club another trophy.
Whilst some talks were believed to have taken place with managers such as Kieran McKenna, Mauricio Pochettino, Thomas Tuchel, Thomas Frank and Roberto De Zerbi, none of them reached any advanced stages, highlighting the club’s difficulty in settling on a manager that they feel could do better than ten Hag.
