Manchester United will begin an internal review of the club’s season today with a decision set to be made on the future of manager Erik ten Hag.
Ten Hag is celebrating leading the Red Devils to FA Cup success with a 2-1 win over rivals Manchester City at Wembley having seen the season end in silverware. It is a second trophy in two seasons for the Dutchman, after League Cup success in 2022-23, but a disappointing Premier League campaign has left his position at Old Trafford under threat.
United ended the season eighth in the Premier League table, the club’s lowest league finish since 1989-90, and their FA Cup success was all that salvaged European qualification for next season.
The board are set to meet this week to discuss Ten Hag’s future and have already held negotiations with the representative of potential successors, including Ipswich Town’s Kieran McKenna, Brentford boss Thomas Frank and ex-Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino should a decision for change be made.
There is an acceptance that Ten Hag has had to deal with several setbacks this season, including missing members of his first-choice backline, including Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw, for extended periods of the campaign.
His integration of young talent, with teenagers Kobbie Mainoo and Alejandro Garnacho scoring in the FA Cup final win over City, is also appreciated at Old Trafford.
However, the club’s 13 league losses this season is a record in the Premier League era and improvements are required for United to challenge at the top end of the division again. Fabrizio Romano has said today marks a ‘crucial’ period in Ten Hag’s future as new minority owners INEOS start an end-of-season review.
Ten Hag was bullish on his future after the weekend’s FA Cup final win and said he ‘will win trophies somewhere else’ if a decision is made for him to leave Manchester United.
“Two trophies in two years is not bad,” he said. “Three finals in two years is not bad. I’m not satisfied with it. We have to do better.
“If they don’t want me, then I go somewhere else to win trophies because that is what I do.”
