Manchester United stakeholder Sir Jim Ratcliffe has explained his reasoning for keeping Erik ten Hag at the club and handing the Dutchman a new contract.
The former Ajax boss made an immediate impression at the Theatre of Dreams in 2022-23, where his side finished third in the Premier League and won the EFL Cup.
By clinching the top-flight bronze medal, Man United made a swift return to the Champions League, but their stint back in the European big time was nothing short of disastrous, as they finished fourth in a group with Bayern Munich, Galatasaray and Copenhagen.
Amid scathing criticism of the Red Devils' style of play, which often saw Man United concede a staggering amount of shots per game, the 20-time English champions suffered their worst-ever Premier League finish, only achieving an eighth-placed ranking.
Prior to a second straight FA Cup final showdown with Manchester City, reports claimed that Ten Hag was set to be given the boot by Ratcliffe, regardless of the result of the Wembley showdown.
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'Good guy' Ten Hag was doing 'too much at once'
However, to the surprise of fans, pundits and Ratcliffe's INEOS regime, Man United stunned the Premier League champions with a 2-1 win in the capital, as Ten Hag won his second trophy in as many seasons.
As a result, Ratcliffe offered Ten Hag a surprise stay of execution, and the Dutchman's contract - which was due to expire at the end of this season - was prolonged until the end of the 2025-26 campaign.
Speaking to The Times, Ratcliffe - who took over football operations at Old Trafford when he completed his 27.7% purchase in Christmas 2023 - labelled Ten Hag a "good guy" and said that the Dutchman was trying to juggle too many responsibilities at once, namely the leaky Old Trafford roof.
"Erik is a good guy and had been doing his best, but doing too much. He was trying to sort out the squad and fix leaks in the roof at the same time," the 71-year-old told the publication.
Ten Hag came within a few minutes of winning his third Man United trophy on Saturday, as the Red Devils led Man City 1-0 in the Community Shield, only to concede a late Bernardo Silva header and lose on penalties.
How the Ten Hag saga unfolded
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Throughout Man United's dismal Premier League campaign, there was not a shred of public backing from Ratcliffe for Ten Hag, who remained defiant that he would still be at Old Trafford in 2024-25.
Straight after the FA Cup victory, the former Ajax head coach jetted off on holiday to Ibiza, at which point Man United were being linked with a plethora of potential successors, namely Gareth Southgate, who stepped down from his England post after Euro 2024.
Thiago Motta, Xavi, Roberto De Zerbi, Thomas Frank, Graham Potter and Thomas Tuchel were among the other big names thought to have been under consideration for the job, but a Red Devils contingent flew out to Ibiza to tell Ten Hag that he would not be axed.
The 54-year-old disclosed the details of his INEOS chat with Dutch media, where he confirmed that the club had held talks with Tuchel, while also admitting that the discussion was "confrontational".
Ratcliffe and co were allegedly furious with Ten Hag for publicly opening up about the details of their Ibiza summit, but the two parties will seemingly continue their collaboration for at least one more year.
Ben Knapton
