Sunday's Premier League loss at West Ham proved one defeat too many for embattled Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag, who was sacked on Monday.
The Red Devils are now seeking their sixth permanent boss since Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, with David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ten Hag all failing to return the glory days to Old Trafford.
Ten Hag led United to the EFL Cup in 2023 and the FA Cup earlier this year, making him their second-most successful boss of the post-Ferguson era after Mourinho, who won the Europa League, EFL Cup and Community Shield.
However, a dismal eighth-placed Premier League finish in 2023-24 has been followed by a dreadful start to 2024-25, prompting the INEOS regime to take action.
Here, we delve into the Opta data to pinpoint where it went wrong for Ten Hag at United.
No defence for United rearguard
When Ten Hag arrived at Old Trafford in 2022, having led an exuberant Ajax side to a Champions League semi-final and three Eredivisie crowns, hopes were high that he would bring a modern, possession-based style to a United side characterised by chaos for so long.
However, that dream failed to materialise. Throughout Ten Hag's time in the dugout, United were consistently among the Premier League's worst defensive outfits.
Since his first Premier League match in charge in August 2022, United have registered a total xG against (xGA) figure of 136.
While they only conceded 112 goals under him, their xGA was the fifth-worst of any ever-present Premier League side in that time, better than only Everton, Fulham, West Ham and Wolves.
Meanwhile, United faced 1,253 shots in the Premier League under Ten Hag – only four teams (Brentford, Wolves, Bournemouth and West Ham) have faced more shots in the competition since the start of the 2022-23 campaign.
The £70million arrival of midfield enforcer Casemiro failed to solve United's defensive issues, and a failure to control games was a key theme of Ten Hag's tenure. Only Brighton (17) and Everton (16) conceded more Premier League goals from fast breaks than United (13) during the Dutchman's reign, and only three teams gave up more shots from such scenarios (61).
Attackers go missing
In the early weeks of 2024-25, however, a failure to take their chances at the other end has primarily cost United.
Only Crystal Palace and Southampton (six each) have scored fewer Premier League goals than United (eight) this season. They have the biggest negative differential between expected goals and goals scored in the competition this term (-6.56 – eight goals, 14.56 xG).
They were guilty of spurning several clear-cut chances at the London Stadium last time out, and seven of Ten Hag's 27 Premier League defeats came via a 90th-minute winner, the highest percentage of defeats to last-minute goals of any manager to lose 20 or more games in Premier League history.
With 42 goals, Marcus Rashford was United's leading scorer in all competitions under Ten Hag.
Thirty of his strikes came in Ten Hag's debut campaign, though, and he has only netted once in nine league outings this term.
Bruno Fernandes, who Ten Hag installed as captain, has created the most chances for United since the start of 2022-23 with 364. Christian Eriksen (131), Diogo Dalot (116) and Rashford (115) were the other three players to set up at least 100 chances for team-mates under the former Ajax boss.
However, Fernandes – who scored 29 goals under Ten Hag and laid on 31 assists – has struggled for form this campaign, with his 2.48 xG the highest figure of any player yet to net in the Premier League.
The highs and lows
Ten Hag's tenure brought a few obvious highs, with the 2023 EFL Cup final win over Newcastle United ending a near-six-year trophy drought and May's FA Cup showpiece victory over Manchester City denying United's neighbours a domestic double.
That was one of two victories over City under Ten Hag, though they lost more games to Pep Guardiola's men (four) than any other team during his reign.
Most damagingly, Ten Hag's United were blown away in several big games, shipping 17 goals versus City and 16 against Liverpool. Of course, they were trounced 7-0 by the Reds at Anfield in March 2023 – the joint-heaviest competitive defeat in the Red Devils' history.
Ten Hag's reign ends after 128 games, with his 70 victories giving him the second-best win ratio (54.7%) of any United boss post-Ferguson in all competitions, after Mourinho (58.7%).
His record of 1.72 points per Premier League game, though, only bettered the figures managed by Moyes (1.68) and Ralf Rangnick (1.72) in that span.
Only Rangnick (0), meanwhile, has overseen a worse goal difference in the Premier League than Ten Hag (+11), among United bosses to manage at least five games.
And only Moyes (32.4%, 11/34) lost a higher percentage of his Premier League games as United boss than Ten Hag (31.8%, 27/85).
In the overall Premier League standings since Ten Hag took charge, they sit fifth with 146 points, some 57 adrift of first-placed Man City and also fewer than Arsenal (191), Liverpool (171) and Aston Villa (147).
Amorim told Europa League qualification is 'mandatory' in first Man Utd season
Ruben Amorim must at least guide Manchester United back into the Europa League in his first season as the club's manager.
That is the view of ex-Manchester City defender Danny Mills, whose former side were beaten 4-1 by Amorim and Sporting CP in the Champions League earlier this month.
Amorim has been hired by Man Utd to replace Erik ten Hag after the Dutchman was sacked midway through his third season in charge at Old Trafford.
Having taken charge of his final games in Lisbon, a spell which included that famous continental win over Man City, Amorim started his work at United during the international break.
His first game at the helm comes this Sunday away at Ipswich Town and while Mills acknowledges the task of rebuilding United's team is a long-term project, he feels there is still a certain level of results Amorim needs to hit in the 2024-25 season.
"Amorim needs to figure out which players fit his mould and buy into his project," former England international Mills said to Stats Perform.
"That will take six months or so. Then he will need to move some players out and bring new ones in.
"This season, though, they still need success. European football – Europa League – is probably mandatory. They must avoid the Conference League.
"Without being disrespectful, third-tier European football isn’t good enough for Manchester United, so it has to be the Europa League or Champions League.
"The Europa League is very achievable and not making it would be a huge disappointment.
"There are still good players at the club and they have still got to aim for the Champions League, but [getting into the top four] will take good coaching, a big turnaround, and maybe a bit of luck."
Amorim is the seventh different manager to take charge of the club since Alex Ferguson's retirement in 2013.
The 39-year-old won three Portuguese league titles with Benfica as a player while he left Sporting as head coach after guiding them to two league titles and two Taca da Liga trophies.
Sporting also started this season by winning all 11 league games under Amorim before his departure.
"The appointment of Ruben Amorim is a good one," added Mills. "You have to look at the people involved [in the appointment] as well.
"Dan Ashworth hasn’t made too many wrong decisions as a sporting or technical director. Throughout his career, at West Brom, England, Brighton, and Newcastle, his recruitment has been very good.
"Jason Wilcox, who sits under him, did incredibly well at Manchester City. He identified many young players who, if they didn’t become stars at City, went on to become stars elsewhere.
"Recruitment will be handled well in terms of managers, coaches, and players, but that takes time and it’s going to take at least two or three transfer windows.
"I like that Amorim came in and said, ‘Right, that’s it. A new start’. He has moved away from the Ferguson era that people keep harping on about.
"Ten-plus years ago, we knew how good Manchester United were, but football moves on. Liverpool went through a similar phase after their success in the 1980s."
Amorim takes over at United with the club 13th in the Premier League with 15 points from 11 matches and having collected just one win from four matches in the Europa League.
Mills believes there is plenty for United fans to like about the new boss' approach on and off the pitch.
"Football has evolved faster in the last 10 years than ever before and Amorim deals with the press well," he said.
"When Sporting beat Manchester City, he admitted they played well but got a bit lucky. People appreciate that honesty.
"Fans and pundits are more knowledgeable now than ever before, thanks to the amount of football they consume and the opinions they hear, especially on social media."
After facing Ipswich, Amorim's first two home games will see Man Utd take on Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League and Everton in the Premier League.
He will then take the Red Devils to the Emirates Stadium for a huge clash against Arsenal on 4 December.
United reached this season's Europa League by winning the FA Cup under Ten Hag and they have that potential path again this season, while they are also still in the EFL Cup, a competition in which they will play Tottenham in the quarter-finals.
Winning the Europa League itself, meanwhile, would mean qualification to the Champions League.
But while there are multiple routes open to Amorim in his bid to secure a continental spot, the Opta supercomputer does not like his chances of doing that through United's league placing.
After their poor start to the season, United have just a 13.2% chance of finishing in the top six, and a 33.1% shot at reaching the top eight.
As things stand, they are most likely to finish between ninth and 11th, meaning they are on track for their worst-ever Premier League finish unless Amorim can lead a rapid revival.
Slot deserves praise for modest approach to Liverpool job – Mills
Arne Slot deserves praise for not being "arrogant" with his approach to succeeding Jurgen Klopp as Liverpool boss, according to Danny Mills.
The Dutchman has made a hugely positive start to life at Anfield since replacing long-serving Klopp ahead of the 2024-25 season.
The 28 points Slot has collected is the joint-most of any manager in their opening 11 Premier League games along with Guus Hiddink at Chelsea.
Liverpool's only blemish on an otherwise perfect start to the top-flight campaign was a 1-0 loss to Nottingham Forest in September.
Indeed, only in 2019-20 (31 points) have Liverpool collected more points after 11 games of a Premier League season than their 28 this campaign.
Former Leeds United and Manchester City defender Mills has been particularly impressed by Slot's approach to a new era at Anfield.
"Arne Slot has surprised me," Mills told Stats Perform. "They did have a difficult defeat against Nottingham Forest at home. That was a defeat not many people saw that coming, but the start he's had is unbelievable. It's incredible.
"Training might be slightly different, but the style of play is very similar. The players are comfortable with it. They've been high-energy, closing people down, and playing at 100 miles an hour when they win the ball back.
"It shows managerial intelligence to understand the players' qualities and build on what they had when they were successful. He hasn't overthought it or tinkered too much.
"He hasn’t been arrogant and said, 'I'm going to rip it up and start fresh'. It wasn't broken; it was already successful. He's just added to it."
Liverpool won a first ever Premier League title during Klopp's eight-and-a-half years in charge, as well the Champions League in 2018-19.
Klopp also lifted the FA Cup, two EFL Cups, the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, setting a high benchmark to follow.
"Liverpool identified the man they wanted, brought him in, and he's been very clever," Mills added. "He looked at the squad and thought, 'these are good players. I don't need to change too much'.
"That's smart because Liverpool were very successful under Klopp. If you come in and rip up the playbook and it doesn't work, players will question why they're not doing what worked under Klopp."
Liverpool have conceded just six goals in the Premier League this season – four fewer than next-best Nottingham Forest.
They are conceding at a rate of around 0.5 goals per game, compared to around 1.1 in Klopp's final season in charge (41 goals in 38 matches).
"Slot has tweaked things slightly, maybe made them more defensively solid, which they needed to really challenge," Mills said. "Championship-winning or Champions League-winning teams are built on solid defences.
"You don't win without that. He's shored up the defence and allowed the players to continue doing what they were doing before."
Rodri: Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt
Manchester City and Spain star Rodri has suggested that Lionel Messi pipped Cristiano Ronaldo as the greatest footballer of all time.
The 28-year-old was recently awarded the 2024 Ballon d'Or as recognition for a period in which he won the Champions League in 2023 and Euro 2024 with Spain the next year.
Ex-Barcelona man Messi has won three of the last four Ballon d'Ors prior to Rodri, with the midfielder claiming that the latter is the greatest "without any doubt" during an interview on Spanish TV.
"Lionel Messi is the greatest player of all time, without any doubt. Cristiano has managed to match Messi without innate talent. But those of us who have played against them can see the difference," said Rodri, speaking to El Hormiguero.
"We didn’t want Cristiano to step into the box because he was lethal there. But with Messi, the danger was everywhere on the pitch."
Ronaldo has scored a total of 928 goals in his career for club and country, winning 34 major trophies including five Champions League titles. He has also won the Ballon d'Or on five occasions.
Messi, meanwhile, has scored 877 goals, won the Champions League on four occasions and the Ballon d'Or five times, most recently in 2023.
Messi is now at Inter Miami, while Rodri is recovering from an ACL injury at Manchester City, although the two faced each other in LaLiga during the midfielder's spells at Villarreal and Atletico Madrid before his Premier League move.
"When Messi got the ball, you’d think: 'Oh, danger'," he added. "When I first started playing against him, I tried to take the ball from him, and he dodged you as if you were a bull in the ring. The feeling I had was that something bad was about to happen."
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