Sir Jim Ratcliffe was one of those who made the decision last year to dismiss Erik ten Hag, despite the glowing evaluation of Pep Guardiola of the Dutch manager of Manchester United
Sir Jim Ratcliffe made the difficult decision last year to dismiss Erik ten Hag, despite a lot of praise from Pep Guardiola. Ten Hag led United to a beautiful 2-1 victory over Arch-Rivalen Manchester City in the FA Cup Final 2024 thanks to goals from Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo.
Guardiola, impressed by the tactical ability of United in overcoming its formidable city team, did not stop his admiration for Ten Hag. After the game, Guardiola said: “He is a sweet person and an extraordinary manager.
“Winning the FA Cup is important for them as it was for us last season.” But despite the FA Cup triumph, Ten Hag's term of office in United was marred by a disappointing league campaign.
The Red Devils finished an unprecedented eighth in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season, only achieved 18 wins in 38 games and were also beaten by Newcastle in the fourth round. In the Champions League, Ten Hag's team did not pass the group stage and finished last behind Bayern Munich, Copenhagen and Galatasaray, with only one victory in six games.
Despite speculation about the future of Ten Hag prior to last year's summer holidays, minority shareholder Ratcliffe and the United Board chose to support the manager, so that a repetition of Louis van Gaal's dismissal will be avoided shortly after his FA Cup victory in 2016, reports The Manchester Event News. Ten HAG received a contract extension until July 2026 and received a substantial transfer budget to strengthen his team for the 2024/25 season.
Despite almost £ 200 million spent on players such as Joshua Zirkzee, Matthijs de Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Leny Yoro and Noussair Mazraoui, Ten Hag found it difficult to change the team's fortunes when the season 2024/25 started. The 55-year-old managed only three victories from the first nine games of the season before he was rejected after a 2-1 defeat against West Ham United in October.
Despite the glowing approval of Guardiola, Ratcliffe apparently thought that Ten Hag was not the right person to restore the former Glory of United – he even confessed later that it was a mistake to stay after the FA Cup victory. Ruben Amorim took over the manager of the club the following month, where supporters in the northwest anticipate great things of the very successful former sporting CP strategist.
However, some claim that the 49-year-old Portuguese Maestro performed worse in his last season than Ten Hag. As the 2024/25 season ends, the club is on track for another record-run finish, while it also does not go beyond the fifth round of the FA Cup and the quarterfinals of the League Cup.
Nevertheless, Amorim was still able to secure the Europa League title, with the Red Devils that stand against Tottenham Hotspur in the final of the European competition on Wednesday. A victory would not only considerably improve the overall performance of the team in 2024/25, but also secure a place in the Champions League of next season.
However, further investments of the board will be required because Amorim continues to struggle to adjust the team he inherited from ten hag to his playing style, with United that lags behind their rivals far behind. In the meantime, Guardiola wants to make up for Last year and Manchester City to an eighth FA cup on Saturday afternoon Leiden, with the citys to Crystal Palace in Wembley.
If it is successful, it would mark the third time that Guardiola led the team to the trophy, and it would be 19th of silverware with the side, including Premier competitions, domestic and European titles, super cups and club world cups. Conversely, a victory for Palace would represent the first triumph of the London Club in the tournament.
The Eagles in particular reached the final of the competition twice before and shoot in 1990 and again in 2016 against Manchester United.
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