After quite a disappointing run by the fan favourite professional football club Manchester United in both the UEFA Champions League and the Premier League last year, the Red Devils saw a time of celebration with a victory against Wigan Athletic FC in the FA Cup on Monday, 8 January.
However, with quite an underwhelming performance from the team, manager of Man United Erik ten Hag would be foolish to believe that the FA Cup win can provide him with the same job security that once kept Sir Alex Ferguson out of the firing line.
Thirty-four years have passed since Ferguson famously engineered the 1-0 triumph at Nottingham Forest in the third round, and then went on to take revenge by defeating Crystal Palace in a replay for the 1990 FA Cup game at Wembley Stadium in London, England.
After nearly four years of underwhelming performance, Ferguson would have been fired if Mark Robins hadn’t scored the goal at the City Ground in Nottinghamshire, England, to win his manager over. It was followed up by United winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup a year later, leaving the rest to history.
Though bringing the FA Cup back to Old Trafford for a record 13 times would be a memorable experience for United’s supporters, ten Hag should also keep in mind what happened to Van Gaal in 2016’s FA Cup.
Crystal Palace were United’s defeated opponents once more, but less than a day after entering Wembley’s Royal Box as the Cup champion, the Dutchman was fired. Van Gaal’s career was lost because the club’s owners had already decided to bring in Jose Mourinho to counter Manchester City’s hiring of Pep Guardiola.
United is now in the 8th position in the Premier League and is eliminated from Europe after placing last in their Champions League group, which means that the team might soon see some alterations. It already looks like the Red Devils would not be able to qualify for Europe’s premier club championship and Ten Hag’s contract will expire in just 12 months.
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 8, 2024
Future of Manchester United
According to an article published on 30 December in The Athletic, Eric ten Hag chose to activate his favourite Swedish center-back Victor Lindelof’s option for a 12-month contract extension.
On 30 December, Manchester United received a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at the hands of Nottingham Forest at The City Ground in Nottinghamshire, England, while their captain Bruno Fernandes was trolled on the internet for his obnoxious conduct on the field.
Man United is therefore anticipated to make significant roster changes in the two transfer windows, while specifically Lindelof’s contract was accepted by the new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team, meaning he will stay with the team into the summer of 2024.
The British billionaire’s 25% ownership of the Old Trafford team allows him to take control of the trajectory of the Red Devils, as Ratcliffe has the final say in all football-related and important sporting matters of Manchester United, including player contracts, throughout the ratification process.
This means that Erik ten Hag might be targeted for a sack if the disappointing run of Man Utd continues. Several players for the Manchester United football team also have their contracts set to expire in June of 2024, such as: Tom Heaton, Jonny Evans, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Anthony Martial, and Hannibal Mejbri.
What is the Premier League?
The Premier League is the top division of the English football league system, which is contested by 20 clubs and uses the English Football League’s (EFL) promotion and relegation system.
Every team plays 38 home and away games against every other team throughout the normal August–May season. With a few rare weekday evening matches, the majority of games take place in the afternoons on Saturdays and Sundays.
On February 20, 1992, the First Division (the premier league from 1888 until 1992) clubs decided to secede from the English Football League, which led to the creation of the FA Premier League. However, teams participating in this competition might still be promoted from and demoted to the EFL Championship.
With a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people due to its partnership with Sky Sports, BBC Sport, TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video, the Premier League is the most watched sports league in the entire world, which is seen and enjoyed in 212 territories across 643 million homes.
