Winners and losers of Man Utd sacking Erik ten Hag

Erik ten Hag is teetering on the edge of being sacked as Man Utd manager.

The Dutch coach took charge of Man Utd in the summer of 2022 fresh off winning the last three Eredivisie titles (albeit across a four season stretch as the 2019/20 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

There was much hype for Ten Hag as a young, forward-thinking manager. Hopes that he would install an Ajax-esque system of play and bring Man Utd into the modern era of football were very high indeed.

However, despite winning two cups in two seasons, the football has been of an atrocious standard and the horrendous start to the 2024/25 season (they have failed to win both Europa League games and are 14th in the Premier League) has seen Ten Hag placed firmly on the managerial hotseat.

The question is: who would be the winners and losers if Erik ten Hag were to be sacked?

Winner: Marcus Rashford

The most obvious winner is the Man Utd player with which Ten Hag has had the most obvious friction. Despite bagging 30 goals in Ten Hag's debut campaign and dragging the Red Devils into a third-place finish and Champions League qualification, Marcus Rashford has nevertheless been singled out by Ten Hag repeatedly.

Rashford undoubtedly struggled in 2023/24, but Ten Hag always seemed to be fighting against his forward rather than trying to find an ideal solution. And while he looks better this season Ten Hag is still doing odd things like taking him off at half-time of a game he is quite clearly dominating.

Marcus Rashford will be dancing in the streets the day Ten Hag is sacked.

Loser: Matthijs de Ligt

"In my career, I've never had a trainer for longer than one and a half seasons," said Matthijs de Ligt in a recent interview. "So this is something that I hope I can have now, that I have a trainer or a manager who stays longer with me as a player so you can grow more together also."

De Ligt is now 25 years-old and while he seemed destined to be one of the greatest centre-backs in the world, bad career choices and (in his opinion) managerial instability, has held him back to the point where he looks a liability at times.

He had hoped to stick with Ten Hag over a longer period of time to develop, and now he won't get the chance. Oh well!

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Winner: Manuel Ugarte

Despite signing for Man Utd late in the window after the Red Devils had pursued a defensive midfielder for seemingly years, Ugarte has been handled very reluctantly by Ten Hag.

The Dutch coach has seemed almost reluctant to use Ugarte, saying he wasn't fit to play even though Uruguay called him up and played him. And when Ugarte did play, Ten Hag's ridiculously wide-open 4-2-4 shape left him with far too much ground to cover given how inept his team-mates are.

FC Twente's goal was the perfect example of this as a defender charged all the way through the team until Ugarte stopped them dead in their tracks with a slide tackle. The ball rolled to Christian Eriksen who then stood around gormlessly, allowing his pocket to be picked and a goal to be scored quite easily.

A manager who plays him, and in a more compact system, will be huge.

Loser: Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle

Man Utd are chasing fourth spot in the Premier League to get back into the Champions League, and Chelsea, Aston Villa and Newcastle are their main competition.

Right now the Red Devils are a ways behind them (4 points behind Newcastle and 6 behind Chelsea and Villa), but if Ten Hag is sacked and Man Utd start using the immense talent in their squad they could rocket back into contention for that final spot.

Winner: Jadon Sancho

Erik ten Hag drove Jadon Sancho out of Man Utd with a level of malice that made absolutely no sense. Seeing him crash and burn must be sweet, sweet vindication for the winger, currently on loan at Chelsea and likely to stay there.

READ MORE: Sancho already a 'PROBLEM' for Chelsea

Loser: Ajax

Ajax is one of the coolest clubs in the history of football. They have a tremendous reputation for playing beautiful football. That's a reputation Ten Hag is part of as the Dutch coach managed Ajax during their last great spell where they had that great run in the 2019 Champions League, coming seconds away from making the final.

This success with Ajax was one of the reasons Man Utd pursued Ten Hag so much, and why they had confidence in him to lead the club back to glory.

However give Ten Hag's failures with Man Utd after a period of dominance with Ajax is a haunting echo of Frank de Boer's failures in the Premier League as well, it's starting to look like success with Ajax doesn't count for anything.

Ajax's plight is made even worse by Arne Slot's instant success with Liverpool having been manager of Feyenoord, and PSV legend Ruud van Nistelooy being the likely successor to Ten Hag in the Man Utd dugout.