The world’s most valuable soccer team is officially a mess.
After falling to 14th place in the 20-team English Premier League Sunday, Manchester United fired manager Erik ten Hag Monday morning. The club confirmed the news in a statement.
“We are grateful to Erik for everything he has done during his time with us and wish him well for the future,” the statement said. “Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team as interim head coach, supported by the current coaching team, whilst a permanent head coach is recruited.”
Man United, valued at $6.2 billion in Sportico’s latest franchise valuations, is off to its worst start in the modern Premier League era, with just three wins in nine EPL matches. It has struggled outside league play, too, winning its lone match in the English Carabao Cup against lower-division Barnsley but notching no wins and three draws in three Europa League matches.
Ten Hag was on the hot seat at the end of last season owing to the team’s eighth-place EPL finish, but the club decided to retain him, in part because of Man United’s victory over crosstown rival Manchester City in England’s FA Cup final.
The awful start to the 2024-25 campaign, the worst in 35 years, was capped by Sunday’s 2-1 loss to West Ham and sealed the manager’s fate.
The publicly traded team is majority-owned by the Glazer family, owners of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but is being run by Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the chairman of INEOS and one of the UK’s richest men, who bought a 25% stake in the club early this year.
Off the field, the team’s performance has been more in line with its storied history. The team reported record revenues in September. But Ratcliffe’s reorganization has not been without bumps. The club laid off roughly 250 employees over the summer. Earlier this month it was reported that the team ended a multimillion-dollar team-ambassador agreement with Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary former manager who led United to 13 EPL titles during his 26-year tenure.