Manchester United sack Erik ten Hag and appoint Van Nistelrooy as interim coach | Manchester United

Manchester United have sacked Erik ten Hag after the club's 2-1 defeat at West Ham on Sunday marked one of their worst starts to a Premier League season.

United have one win from their last five top-flight games and sit 14th in the division, seven points above the relegation zone, having scored just eight goals in nine league games. The club hierarchy felt there was no excuse for the performances on the pitch and made the decision to part ways with Ten Hag, informing him of this on Monday morning.

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club's coaching staff in the summer, will take charge of the first team in the short term alongside other incumbent members of the club's backroom. United's next game is at home against Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

“Erik ten Hag has relinquished his role as manager of Manchester United’s men’s first team,” the club said in a statement. “Erik was appointed in April 2022 and led the club to two domestic trophies, winning the Carabao Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup in 2024.

“We thank Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him all the best for the future. Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, while a permanent head coach is recruited.”

Ten Hag was believed to need to win at least one of the club's games against Fenerbahce in the Europa League and at West Ham last week. United were held to a 1-1 draw by Jose Mourinho's side in Turkey and Sunday's result sealed their fate.

United were keen to give Ten Hag time as they wanted as much continuity as possible during a period of change at the club. It was hoped he would work closely with new sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox to help the club after their eighth-place finish last season, but there was no apparent improvement.

The decision is the most significant made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his allies since his company Ineos took a minority stake. United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, their lowest league finish since 1990, and started this season with four wins from 13 games in all competitions.

At the beginning of September, United boss Omar Berrada and Ashworth publicly expressed their support for Ten Hag. Berrada said: “Do we still believe in Erik? Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we are fully behind him.” However, three days later the Guardian reported that his “playing model” was under review.

Ten Hag was under intense pressure at the end of last season but secured victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final and kept his job after United held talks with several candidates.

Among them was Thomas Tuchel, who retired from office and was subsequently appointed head coach of the England national team. Other potential successors include Brentford's Thomas Frank and former England manager Gareth Southgate.

Ten Hag left Ajax to succeed interim manager Ralf Rangnick at United for the 2022/23 season. The Dutchman was given a contract until June 2025 with the option of an extension for a further year, which was taken up in a brief statement of support from Ratcliffe this summer.

After the contract extension, Ten Hag was supported on the transfer market. Matthijs De Ligt, Noussair Mazraoui, Joshua Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte have all joined the club for big transfer fees, but none of them have seemed permanent since their arrival. Questions have been raised about Ten Hag's signings as the £85.6m spent on bringing Antony from Ajax was seen as a disaster.

United finished third in Ten Hag's first season, 14 points off the top, and won the Carabao Cup by beating Newcastle in the final.