Erik ten Hag: What next for Man Utd manager - transfers, revised role, is he still at risk next season? (2024)

Published

12 June 2024

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Seventeen days after lifting the FA Cup with Manchester United, manager Erik ten Hag has been told the conclusion of a thorough performance review of the season was that he should stay.

United sources say the outcome of the two-week evaluation was "clear".

But they also say all eventualities were considered - which must mean they considered sacking the former Ajax boss. They certainly spoke to prospective replacements before and after the FA Cup final.

Changes are being made at Old Trafford. The big question after yesterday’s announcement is whether, long-term, manager and owners can find enough common ground to make their partnership work.

While United and Ten Hag both feel they can move forward now, there are some glaring issues which need to be addressed – including Ten Hag’s role in a revised structure that threatens to weaken his influence, summer transfers in and out of the club, and a new contract.

BBC Sport looks at what questions remain.

New co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and trusted ally, United director Sir Dave Brailsford, began their own detailed assessment of the inner workings at Old Trafford in January.

It is fair to say they were not impressed.

Ten Hag viewed the situation he had walked into 18 months earlier as "a mess".

In his extensive interview with BBC sports editor Dan Roan on 21 February, Ratcliffe observed: “It’s not switching a light switch, not just about a new coach or a simple short-term fix. We have to walk to the right solution, not run to the wrong one.”

Within a couple of weeks of Ratcliffe’s assessment, BBC Sport was told issues around the structures in place at United had left his Ineos group to wonder if it was fair to judge any manager on the results being delivered, because it felt the existing set-up was destined to fail.

By then the plan was taking shape to bring in Jason Wilcox as technical director and Dan Ashworth as football director to complement Omar Berrada, who will formally take over as chief executive on 13 July.

Gary O’Driscoll had already arrived from Arsenal as United’s head of sports medicine and had begun assessing nutrition, training and the sleep of each player with the aim of improving overall fitness and robustness amid a dire injury situation, the worst in the Premier League.

Towards the end of the season, Ten Hag said he knew the reason for the lengthy injury list but was not prepared to elaborate. He still has not. He did say no manager could have dealt with it.

In football, results change narratives.

The abysmal period between 30 March and 6 May changed perceptions about Ten Hag and his team. During that time, United played eight matches, dropping a number of points from leading positions and struggling against poor teams in the relegation zone.

But worse than all this was how close United came to humiliation in the FA Cup semi-finals when they threw away a 3-0 lead in the final 20 minutes against Championship side Coventry, eventually going through on penalties after a marginal VAR call in the last minute of extra time denied the underdogs one of the competition's most amazing victories.

United’s humbled celebrations at Wembley told their own story.

A fortnight later, United lost 4-0 at Crystal Palace.

While Ten Hag, to wider incredulity, defended the FA Cup performance, he accepted the Selhurst Park debacle was not good enough and apologised to supporters.

Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher dissected United’s apparent consistent lack of gameplan and described them as one of the “worst-coached sides I've ever seen”.

It was against this backdrop it began to emerge that Ineos had been speaking to prospective replacements and stories were published stating Ten Hag would be sacked no matter what the FA Cup final result.

History shows those stories were wrong.

But it was tight, very tight. Even heading into the last week of the Premier League season there was no guarantee Ten Hag would be in charge for the cup final if United suffered a repeat of the mauling experienced at Selhurst Park.

But victories over Newcastle and Brighton got Ten Hag to Wembley.

The result qualified United for the Europa League and also increased the compensation Ten Hag was entitled to in the event of dismissal.

But it was the manner of United’s victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final that turned the dial back to the March position, as Ineos began their end-of-season review and Ten Hag headed to Ibiza on holiday.

It is impossible to know exactly what proved decisive in the outcome favouring Ten Hag, but some aspects are known.

Dedication, dignity and professionalism were three words used from within Old Trafford to sum up Ten Hag’s approach to the job.

An acknowledgement of United’s dreadful injury list was a factor, although it has been argued the manager could have predicted some of last season’s absences.

The development of teenage pair Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho was hugely important. And so, too, were United’s fans.

At Wembley and afterwards, the feeling towards Ten Hag among the fanbase has been positive, with a sense that sticking with the Dutchman was preferable to some of the alternatives being proposed.

For a start, Ratcliffe believes a manager should feed thoughts about recruitment into a wider leadership team, who take responsibility for final decisions.

Wilcox, Brailsford, deputy football director Andy O’Boyle and director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves all have a significant input.

But Ten Hag currently has a veto over signings and has had a major influence over many.

Close scrutiny of United’s recent big-money buys strengthens Ratcliffe’s hand in terms of a wider approach.

Most have either been too expensive - Rasmus Hojlund and Andre Onana, injured too often - Mason Mount and Tyrell Malacia, or have desperately underperformed - Antony and Casemiro.

United have already resolved to sell Mason Greenwood, who spent last season on loan at Getafe after the club reversed a decision to keep him following serious charges against the England forward were dropped, and Jadon Sancho, who was given a £40m price tag before the decision to stick with Ten Hag effectively signalled the winger’s Old Trafford exile will be extended into a second season.

But, BBC Sport and others have already reported the club are willing to listen to offers for almost all their first-team squad.

Realistically, most will not leave - Hojlund, Mainoo and Garnacho will definitely stay - but big calls may have to be made over some senior players as the club bids to bolster a slim transfer budget.

The potential for disagreement is huge.

Add in the knowledge other managers were spoken to about Ten Hag’s job and the backdrop against which talks will begin over a contract extension is not entirely favourable for the Dutchman – and that is without clarity over the post-Euros status of England boss Gareth Southgate, whose contract runs to the end of December and has a positive pre-existing relationship with Brailsford.

Indeed, some wonder why there is a need to talk about contracts at all. In addition to next year, Ten Hag’s present deal also includes an option to take it to 2026.

After last season’s eighth-placed finish, it is argued, why not see how results unfold because a repeat of that league form will cost the Dutchman his job anyway.

That is for the future.

Southgate will expect to still be in full tournament mode when United return for pre-season training in the first week of July.

Although they have a trip to Norway to face Rosenborg on 15 July, the day after the Euro 2024 final, and then go to Scotland to play Rangers at Murrayfield on 20 July, Ten Hag is not expected to speak to external media about his situation until the three-match tour of the United States that follows.

Remarkably, in winning the FA Cup, Ten Hag became only the fourth manager in United’s history to win a major trophy in successive seasons. Only Sir Alex Ferguson has managed three in a row.

Ten Hag has been given the chance to set out on the journey to match him. No-one can know whether he will get to the end.

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