Erik ten Hag has officially received a letter of dismissal from Manchester United. However, until his final moments in charge of the Red Devils, the Dutchman was still in denial and was sure he would not step down.
As previously reported, Man United finally officially fired Erik ten Hag from the manager’s chair on Monday (10/28/2024) night or a day after the 1-2 defeat at West Ham headquarters.
“Erik ten Hag has left his role as Manchester United’s first team manager.”
“We thank Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him the best for the future.”
“Ruud van Nistelrooy will take over the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, while a permanent head coach is being recruited.” This is the official statement from Man United’s official website.
After the defeat at West Ham headquarters, Man United held two press conferences, the first was the post-match conference versus West Ham, and the second was the pre-match conference for the Carabao Cup against Leicester City.
Interestingly, Ten Hag had attended the pre-match press conference against Leicester. However, the bald-headed man will not accompany his team in the match because he was fired first.
Quoting Samuel Luckhurst from the Manchester Evening News, Ten Hag seemed to still be in denial and was sure that he would not be fired if you look at the answer he gave to one of the last questions asked by journalists to him as Man United manager.
“You won this competition (Carabao Cup) two years ago, you are very proud to win trophies in both seasons, if you win a trophy in the third season, does that make the season successful again for you?” asked a journalist.
“Of course,” Ten Hag answered enthusiastically.
“It’s about trophies, I don’t want to discuss this debate anymore. There are not many trophies you can win, if you win a trophy in top football, that’s the most important thing, that’s what the fans expect, what we expect – to win trophies.
“We had five chances and one we missed, which was the Community Shield. There are still four more to go.”
Furthermore, Ten Hag stubbornly insisted that his team’s 14th place in the Premier League does not reflect their performances on the pitch, which he considers quite good.
“We have to do better, that’s the ranking,” Ten Hag admitted. “But I will tell them that the ranking does not reflect our performance and our level.
“But at the end of the season, we have to do it right. It’s not easy when you have so many setbacks at the beginning of the season and to overcome them, but we have to bounce back.
“It always helps if you have a good start because it gives motivation, it gives belief, the confidence grows. We are now on the other side where we were disappointed and we had to deal with setbacks and now we have to find fuel from the setbacks and disappointments.”
