Daily Times

Sporting Lisbon coach Ruben Amorim has quickly emerged as the leading contender to take over as Manchester United manager after Erik ten Hag was sacked. According to multiple reports on Tuesday, United are in talks with the 39-year-old Portuguese coach after Ten Hag was dismissed on Monday following a disastrous start to the season. However, Brentford’s manager Thomas Frank and Fulham boss Marco Silva are also reportedly being considered. United pulled the plug on Dutchman Ten Hag’s two-year reign on Monday after a 2-1 defeat to West Ham the previous day left one of the world’s wealthiest clubs 14th in the Premier League.

Despite spending heavily in the transfer market in the summer United have won only one of their last eight games in all competitions. Former United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has been named interim boss.

According to multiple British media reports, United want to turn to Amorim, who is considered one of Europe’s leading young coaches. Sky Sports reported United had already held discussions with Amorim.

Amorim was linked with the manager’s role at Liverpool following the departure of Jurgen Klopp this year, but Dutch coach Arne Slot headed to Anfield instead.

The position of Ten Hag, 54, had been repeatedly called into question after United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe retained him following an internal review at the end of last season when the club finished eighth in the league but won the FA Cup with a shock victory over Manchester City.

But United have shown little improvement this season.

The British media were damning on Tuesday about Ten Hag, who repeatedly talked about having a “plan” only for his teams to appear badly organised.

“United have once again concluded that they have the wrong man leading their team, ” the BBC wrote on its website. “And a major reason for that is that Ten Hag’s ‘plan’ was never in evidence.”

The Times said blame should fall at the feet of Ratcliffe, the British billionaire who took a stake in United in February and promised to rejuvenate a club that has not won the Premier League title since 2013.

“How could (Ten Hag) command the respect of his players when it was an open secret that the club had spoken with five or six candidates about the possibility of replacing him?” the newspaper asked.

Former Ajax coach Ten Hag, who joined United in May 2022, had fiercely defended his record in recent weeks, arguing he deserved respect for winning two trophies in his two full seasons.

United ended a six-year wait for silverware by beating Newcastle in the 2023 League Cup final.

The Red Devils also reached the FA Cup final and finished third in the Premier League in an encouraging debut season for Ten Hag.

However, the wheels came off in his second season.

Injuries to key players, the lack of a meaningful impact from expensive signings like Brazilian forward Antony and Ten Hag’s failure to implement a clear playing style led to embarrassing results.

United crashed out of the Champions League at the group stage and suffered a string of defeats at Old Trafford in the 2023/2024 campaign.

The implementation of a new sporting structure at United, spearheaded by Ratcliffe, saw widespread change over recent months off the field.

But Ten Hag’s surprise victory over Pep Guardiola’s City in the FA Cup final led to him receiving a stay of execution.

He was further backed in the transfer market with the signings of Joshua Zirkzee, Manuel Ugarte, Matthijs de Ligt and Noussair Mazraoui, taking the total spent in his reign to over £600 million ($778 million), nearly half of which went on former Ajax players.

Yet early hope this season evaporated as Liverpool and Tottenham coasted to 3-0 wins at Old Trafford in September.

Former United captain Gary Neville said Ten Hag had paid the price for an “unacceptable” league position.

“The big shock for me is how bad they’ve been with the new signings that have come in,” Neville said..

Former United defender Rio Ferdinand compared Ten Hag to “a boxer getting hit and knocked down in the third round and never recovering and getting knocked out”.

In truth, Ten Hag oversaw just a small period of United’s more general decline since legendary former manager Alex Ferguson retired in 2013. Five managers have come and gone since then.