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Manchester United kickstarted the post-Erik ten Hag era with a bang, thrashing Leicester City 5-2 on Wednesday to reach the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup.
Ruud van Nistelrooy was in charge for the game and under him, the players played much more freely with quite a few stars sending a message to their former boss.
While the former Ajax coach did win two trophies in his previous two seasons, his reign was characterised by a lack of a discernible style of play, and dressing room rifts over his puzzling selection calls.
INEOS had been dilly-dallying over the decision since last season and even backed Ten Hag heavily in the summer in the aftermath of the FA Cup triumph. But last Sunday’s defeat to West Ham proved to be the final straw and he was sacked.
EtH sacked
The new co-owners had to shell out an exorbitant compensation package to the 54-year-old, who was spotted leaving in a private jet back to the Netherlands.
While plenty of critics will have pointed out that the club was right to pull the plug, the decision seems to have “devastated” Ten Hag.
Dutch pundit Hans Kraay Jr, a former teammate and friend of the ex-United boss, spoke about how Ten Hag felt when he was delivered the news.
Speaking to Humberto Tan’s talk show, Kraay Jr also revealed that money was never a motivation for Ten Hag and that the compensation package might have been enormous, but the fact that his United journey ended on a sour note really hurt the Dutch tactician.
“I understand that he is getting €17 million and then people say, ‘He will go somersaulting through Manchester’. No, he is completely, completely devastated, he is completely ruined.
EtH devastated
“At the moment you don’t think about money. That will come later. I also don’t have the impression that I have to call him tomorrow to ask, ‘Can you still make ends meet, can you still get the groceries?’ Not that, but now he’s in trouble.”
United have moved on and are on course to agree a deal with Sporting Lisbon for their manager Ruben Amorim to take over. While INEOS initially wanted the Portuguese boss to arrive in time for the Chelsea game, that is no longer the case.
The 39-year-old is expected to take charge during the international break and while he will bring three of his coaches along with him, there is a chance he might keep a few existing United coaches in his ranks, with Van Nistelrooy keen to stay put.
As for Ten Hag, there are already rumours that he might not be out of work for too long, with Borussia Dortmund eyeing the Dutchman‘s services after a poor start to the season.