As the negative results begin to accumulate for Manchester United, so do the calls for Erik ten Hag to be fired, but we've seen this all before and his dismissal would improve nothing for the club.
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In fact, sacking the 53-year-old would only perpetuate what is already a toxic culture at Old Trafford. At the moment, it seems the Dutchman is a victim of his own relative success from last season. After what was a horrendous start to the 2022/23 campaign, the Haaksbergen native led the Red Devils to a third-place finish, and also helped the club end a six-year wait for a trophy when they won the Carabao Cup.
The new season has started in similar fashion, except this time it doesn't look like it's going to get better any time soon as results continue to trend in a downward trajectory. Of the 15 games United have played in all competitions this campaign, they have lost more than half of them (eight) and, understandably, frustration is beginning to grow among some of the club's supporters because bad results tend to amplify all the other bad things that go on at a big club. There's the Jadon Sancho exile situation, concerns over Bruno Fernandes as captain, an ever-growing injury list, and underperforming stars.
However, as mentioned before, we've seen this all before. With David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, and most recently Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Ten Hag's situation is a scene which is all too familiar at the Theatre of Dreams and the common denominator in it all are the club's owners, the Glazer family.
The American ownership group employed a hostile takeover in 2005 to attain a majority stake in the Red Devils, and while Sir Alex Ferguson was able to paper over the cracks by continuing to win silverware for the next eight years, that same success under the Scotsman has eluded all his successors. The family has seemingly prioritised commercial success over displays on the pitch, and this can be seen in the constant managerial changes. They do this to put on this facade that they are actively trying to evolve with the times, but football has progressed from the days when one manager is able to be solely responsible for an institution's success.
It was only in 2021 that the club decided to appoint John Murtough as director of football and former midfielder Darren Fletcher as technical director, appointments that now, in hindsight, seem cosmetic because what experience do these individuals actually have in these positions?
Now, we are not absolving Ten Hag of some of the decisions he has made since taking charge of the side because he has been backed in the transfer market, and none of his acquisitions have really set the world alight. There still doesn't seem to be a semblance of patterns of play from the team and some his substitutions have been questionable, but firing him is simply not the way to go if United want to return to the apex of English and European football.
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If fans of the Premier League giants really want to see their club change, they need to start barking up the Glazer tree even more. The club is currently in negotiations with British billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe over a possible 25% sale of the club, whereby the INEOS owner would assume responsibility of the sporting project at United, but until that happens, the Manchester giants are stuck in this vicious cycle of hiring and firing managers.
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