Ruud van Nistelrooy has revealed that Erik ten Hag was left “hurt” by his Manchester United sacking at the start of this week, paying the price for poor results to kick off 2024/25.
Van Nistelrooy was quickly named interim boss, having been brought back to the club by Ten Hag during the summer, 18 years after he last represented United as a player.
“I saw him on Monday and spoke to him before the [Leicester City] game,” Van Nistelrooy explained to reporters on Wednesday after a thumping 5-2 win in the Carabao Cup.
“He was disappointed and touched because he really cared for the club. The first conversations we had when I came back to the club, I felt he cared and loved the club and wanted to bring the club forward. That’s why he’s also hurt that he had to leave but also proud of his achievement here, winning the two cups.”
Ten Hag delivered the Carabao Cup in his debut season at United, ending a six-year trophy drought that had set in following the 2016/17 campaign. He then won the FA Cup against the odds last season, pulling off a shock against Manchester City in the final at Wembley Stadium.
That record makes him one of only a handful of United managers over the last 146 years to have won two or more major trophies, alongside esteemed company in Sir Alex Ferguson, Sir Matt Busby, Ernest Mangnall, Ron Atkinson and Jose Mourinho.
But Ten Hag couldn’t survive a start to the season which saw United languishing 14th in the Premier League table nine games in, having won only three league games and none in Europe. Defeat to West Ham away last Sunday proved to the final straw as the sporting hierarchy decided his time was up.
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