Man U hire Erik ten Hag as fifth manager in nine years

Once a model of coaching stability in Alex Ferguson’s long trophy-filled tenure, Manchester United hired a fifth full-time manager in nine years since his retirement by bringing in Erik ten Hag from Ajax.

Ten Hag’s arrival was announced by United today, with the 52-year-old Dutchman joining at the end of the season to 2025. He is tasked with awakening a fallen superpower in European football that is enduring their longest trophy drought in nearly 40 years.

“I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead,” ten Hag said. “I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve.”

Adopting the attacking philosophy of the great Johan Cruyff, ten Hag succeeded in bringing the good times back to Ajax, leading the biggest team in the Netherlands to two Eredivisie titles — it could be three in a few weeks — as well as the Champions League semi-finals in entertaining style in 2019.

Returning United to their former heights is set to be an even bigger job, given the team won the last of its record 20 English titles in 2013 — Ferguson’s final season of his 26-year reign — and have not won a trophy since beating Ajax in the Europa League final in 2017. United haven't endured such a trophy drought since the early 1980s and have slipped way behind rivals Manchester City and Liverpool despite continuing to spend heavily on players.

Nowhere was this decline more evident than this week, when United were thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool to go along with their rival’s 5-0 win at Old Trafford in October.

The three-time European champions might not even return to the Champions League next season. United are three points out of the Premier League top four with five games remaining and are already assured of ending a season without a trophy for the fifth straight year.

“In our conversations with Erik leading up to this appointment, we were deeply impressed with his long-term vision for returning Manchester United to the level we want to be competing at, and his drive and determination to achieve that,” said John Murtough, United’s football director.

United have been led by interim managers Michael Carrick and currently Ralf Rangnick since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was fired in November. The club has been speaking to candidates over recent weeks — Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino was reportedly also on the shortlist — but they settled on ten Hag, who might be the biggest managerial gamble in United’s turbulent post-Ferguson era.

-AP