The Guardian: Why Did Manchester United Take So Long to Sack Ten Hag? The Club Should Be More Ruthless in the Future!

With the news of Manchester United sacking Ten Hag now confirmed, The Guardian columnist Steinberg forcefully stated in his column, “Why did Manchester United take so long to sack Ten Hag? They deserve harsher punishment!”

The column writes that Manchester United finally mustered the courage to make this decision they had been considering for a long time. In a series of predictable events, after a string of poor results, they finally made up their minds. From now on, Ten Hag will no longer complain, but why did it take the team so long to make this decision? They had the opportunity to change things completely in the summer.

The article points out that Manchester United had already decided that Ten Hag’s tenure was over before the FA Cup final against Manchester City last season. The result of that match should not have affected the team’s decision, and the message they conveyed was that even a 4-0 win could not save the Dutchman. Manchester United finished eighth in the league last season, and they were in talks with several managers about taking over. When this news became known the day before the final, they did not deny it. However, after beating Manchester City, these thoughts disappeared again.

It was clear that keeping Ten Hag was a wrong decision, and as expected, everything fell apart again just four months later. Some fans cheered for the new contract for the manager: perhaps they had forgotten about the poor signings, heavy defeats, negative goal difference, lack of a distinct playing style, and early exit from the Champions League. What changes did they expect? Why did Manchester United go off track?

All they did was push the problem aside. Anyone could see that Ten Hag’s authority in the dressing room was waning, and once another poor result came, the issues would resurface. However, Manchester United turned a blind eye.

Manchester United has shown no improvement this season; if anything, things have gotten worse. Recently signed players do not look good enough, and the humiliation continues. This reluctance to take action seems to be deeply rooted in Manchester United’s culture.

The lesson from this is that Manchester United needs to be more ruthless. Hopefully, this dismissal marks a change, and Manchester United should not wait until they hit rock bottom before deciding to replace the coach.