Manchester United Supporters Call Erik ten Hag’s Tenure ‘Painful’ After Dismissal

Following Erik ten Hag’s dismissal, Manchester United supporters characterized the team’s performance during his leadership as “painful” and “not good enough.” The 54-year-old was removed from his position by the club’s board subsequent to a 2-1 defeat against West Ham on Sunday, a result that marked the culmination of one of the club’s most challenging season starts in recent history. Several fans learned of his departure while at Old Trafford, among them 15-year-old Ruben, who commented that “it was probably for the best.” Conversely, Deborah Partridge expressed that Hag had “done well to last as long as he did.” Mark Stevenson, aged 59, stated: “It’s been a painful time for United. I can’t really say much about him.” He further elaborated: “We have got no style. We had better style under Mourinho, at least we knew we could defend” and “With this, we can’t even hold a lead, it’s just been shocking.” Ruud van Nistelrooy has been appointed as interim manager. Ruben remarked that he believes the club legend would not perform “too bad,” though he added, “But there’s not a lot of options at the moment.” Evo Verhooren, 49, from the Netherlands, was present at the stadium when he learned of the development and indicated that individuals from his native country would not show sympathy. He stated: “Mostly people are laughing at him.” Alexander, a 12-year-old from London, expressed that he was “very pleased because under Ten Hag we were a shambles.” He observed that the club experienced “good spells and bad spells” during the Dutchman’s leadership, but his acquisitions “haven’t really made an impact.” Alexander further commented: “He hasn’t been able to develop them, no players really got better, and that’s a problem.” He suggested Brentford coach Thomas Frank as his preferred successor. Chris and Carly White, from South Shields in Tyneside, reported discovering the news while on a stadium tour, specifically inside the home dressing room. Carly remarked: “Just everyone was a bit in shock.” Chris added: “It was kind of like the Kennedy thing, a thing we’ll always remember, you’ll always remember where you were when it happened.” In contrast, Thomas Lewis, 18, from Leeds, considered the dismissal “a bit unfair,” citing a contentious penalty that allowed West Ham to gain the lead in their Sunday victory against the club. He commented: “A bad run of games hasn’t helped him.” Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk and via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.