Legend in Waiting: Francesco Totti Set to Defy Time and Come Out of Retirement

British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, was decisive and clear about ending the career of Dutch coach Erik ten Haag, saying the team is not where it deserves to be.

United’s board unanimously decided to sack Ten Haag 24 hours after the loss to West Ham (1-2), which left the team in 14th place in the league after nine rounds, and the club showed no signs of recovery. Returning to its former glory.

The club said in a statement: “Ten Haag has stepped down, and assistant coach and former team striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over temporarily until a new coach is found.”

Van Nistelrooy needed to restore confidence in team and United fans (Reuters)

Since Jim Ratcliffe, Manchester United’s 25 percent shareholder and head of Ineos, took over football management duties before the end of last season, he wanted to change the coaching staff, but Ten Hague won the FA Cup after a tumult. A 2–1 win in the league final against neighbors City gave the Dutch coach a new opportunity, especially as the Dutchman blamed a large number of injuries to justify the team’s poor performance throughout the season.

The Dutch coach signed a new contract to stay at Old Trafford until 2026, giving the 20-time English Premier League champions another chance to return to their former glory, spending $263 million in the summer transfer window to sign new players, most prominently Bayern Munich’s Dutch centre-back Matthijs de Ligt and Moroccan full-back Nousair Mazraoui and Italy’s Bologna’s Dutch striker Joshua Circezi. But supporters’ hopes for a strong start evaporated after two defeats, including one at rivals Liverpool, led by a new coach, the other Dutchman Arne Slott, who replaced German Jurgen Klopp. That left United fans uncertain about the team’s progress, which continued the same negative approach despite Ten Haag’s promises to fix things.

A poor start to the season saw United draw their first three Europa League matches despite being ahead, the last of which was a 1-1 draw with Turkish side Fenerbahce last Thursday under former United coach Jose Mourinho. A modest West Ham Stadium loss, after the Ten Hague team failed to capitalize on the many opportunities presented to it, led to increased media speculation that he would be sacked, in light of the absence of any signs of progress that would convince them. That they are on the right track, and with the coach admitting that his side are “still… far from being ready to challenge for the league title which has been missing from his coffers since Scottish coach Alex Ferguson’s last season in 2013, the club have been his since the Dutchman’s arrival.” Despite spending about $780 million to strengthen the ranks.

United find themselves in 14th place with 11 points after 9 stages, 12 behind their neighbors Manchester City, the title holders and leaders, while they are in the bottom half of the 32-team Europa League table.

Van Nistelrooy, who played for United as a player between 2001 and 2006 and won the league, cup and league cup with them before returning to the club earlier this season as an assistant at Ten Hague, hopes to bring the “Red Devils” out of their misery. comes out

Van Nistelrooy, 48, will not have much time to bring spirit back to the team. United have been invited to face Leicester City in the League Cup final tomorrow (Wednesday), before hosting Chelsea on Sunday in the Premier League.

Ten Haag’s dismissal was not surprising; The picture began to unravel earlier this month, when Jim Ratcliffe refused to guarantee the Dutchman’s future, considering the club “wasn’t where it should be.”

Ratcliffe was pessimistic in his interview with the BBC and his words were not encouraging for the 54-year-old coach, who finished the first season in the Premier League eighth in the team’s lowest ranking since 1990 and also exited the Champions League. group phase. Ratcliffe commented: “I love Eric. I think he is a very good coach, but at the end of the day the results affect the decisions to handle the ball,” he added: “Our goal is very clear that we want to get Manchester United back to where it should be, and it is clear that it is not there yet. “It’s very clear.”

Press reports indicated that Ratcliffe had previously spoken to German Thomas Tuchel, coach of Chelsea and Bayern Munich, before the latter announced he would take charge of the England national team. Former Madrid coach, Spanish Xavi Hernandez, former Barcelona star and coach. But Van Nistelrooy tops the list of candidates to succeed ten Haag permanently, along with Sporting’s Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim, Brentford coach Thomas Frank, former Chelsea coach Graham Potter and Ipswich Town coach Kieran McKenna.

Former United defender and sports analyst for the Sky Sports television network, Gary Neville, said after the sacking of the club’s eighth coach since the retirement of Alex Ferguson: “I don’t think anyone was really shocked… everyone was expecting Ten Haag’s sacking. The team’s heavy loss to Tottenham (3-0 in the sixth round).

He added: “I think the lack of identity and style of play here has been a mystery over the last two-and-a-half seasons, but I believe there is a group of players who can develop. I don’t think anyone is really shocked by the coach’s sacking.”

For his part, former United defender Rio Ferdinand warned of the difficulty of Van Nistelrooy’s handling of the large number of players signed by Ten Hag and asked: “What will the club do with this squad if the coach changes?” “Someone has to come and change now.”

Manchester United captain Portuguese Bruno Fernandes thanked his coach and wrote on his Instagram account: “I thank you for the trust and moments we shared together and I wish you all the best for the future.” While we know the past has not been great for all of us, I hope the fans will remember the good things this coach has done for our club.”