Erik ten Hag became the latest in a growing list of managers to exit Manchester United when he was fired on Monday, reflecting a period of instability that has defined the club since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement from management 11 years ago.
Ferguson’s unrivaled 26 year stint in charge transformed United into a juggernaut, winning 13 Premier League titles and two UEFA Champions League trophies. Following him up was always going to be a big ask, yet United found it difficult to come close to Ferguson’s accomplishments and have instead chewed up and spit out a variety of managers since. Though some managers had more success than others in the last decade-plus, most left Old Trafford after registering some historic lows in the club’s history, which means the club’s meandering road back to the top will likely take another few twists and turns before they get there.
As the search for ten Hag’s successor begins, here’s a ranking of the managers who have held the job since Ferguson’s retirement.
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6. Erik ten Hag
Record: 128 games in charge; 70 wins, 23 draws, 53 losses
Trophies: EFL Cup (2022-23), FA Cup (2023-24)
Recency bias may sink ten Hag’s ranking here, but the optimism of his first season in charge feels like a very long time ago. Things devolved quickly in his second season as United bore the brunt of poor squad building, something he played a big role in. His on-field tactics did not deliver a winning strategy, either – they leaked goals last season, conceded an exorbitant amount of shots and shortly before his exit, struggled to score goals. Though he collected two cups during his spell, he also registered the club’s lowest-ever Premier League finish last season and ensured they would have their worst start to a season in 35 years with three wins in their first nine games this season.
5. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Record: 168 games in charge; 91 wins, 37 draws, 40 losses
Trophies: none
In the post-Ferguson era, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has surprisingly lasted the longest as United’s manager, but even then he constantly felt like a stop-gap measure. The club seesawed in and out of the Premier League’s top four race and his employment always seemed to hang by a thread, offering few long-lasting moments of success during his tenure. That includes a failure to win a single trophy in three years, the only coach to last more than a season at United without doing so.
4. David Moyes
Record: 51 games in charge; 27 wins, nine draws, 15 losses
Trophies: none
History is perhaps kinder to David Moyes than it was when he was fired in April 2014, less than a year after he became Ferguson’s hand-picked successor. He was clearly unable to settle into the job, registering the lowest points total and finish until he was outdone by Ralf Rangnick and ten Hag, respectively. That said, he was also the first in a string of managers to suffer the consequences of a poorly-structured club, one that had almost relied solely on Ferguson’s talents to keep them at the top of the game.
3. Ralf Rangnick
Record: 29 games in charge; 11 wins, 10 draws, eight losses
Trophies: none
Rangnick was the only one of United’s interim managers in the last decade-plus to last more than four games, the role was essentially his soft-launch as a consultancy role he planned to hold for another two years. Things did not go according to plan at all, though. Under him, United finished sixth and registered their worst-ever points total in Premier League history. He diagnosed the club’s problems as ones of squad-building, but his five month stay was enough for both sides to opt out of the consultancy role at the end of the season. Rangnick’s spell at United does not define his managerial career, especially considering he was right about the team’s squad, but it only extended the instability that had long loomed over United.
2. Louis van Gaal
Record: 103 games in charge; 54 wins, 25 draws, 24 losses
Trophies: FA Cup (2015-16)
The first manager to win a trophy at United since Ferguson, Louis van Gaal steadied the ship somewhat after Moyes’ tenure ended poorly. Even then, his two years at Old Trafford were not particularly notable – the team finished fourth and then fifth in the Premier League during his time there and never got further than the round of 16 in the UEFA Europa League. In his second season, United also registered their lowest goal total since the 1990-91 season, scoring just 49 times in 38 league games. Like Rangnick, this is not an indictment on van Gaal’s reputation, but it certainly was not his crowning achievement, either.
1. Jose Mourinho
Record: 144 games in charge; 84 wins, 32 draws, 28 losses
Trophies: UEFA Europa League (2016-17), EFL Cup (2-16-17)
Someone has to finish first by default, and so Jose Mourinho lands here after winning the club’s biggest trophy in the post-Ferguson period — the 2016-17 Europa League title. He followed it up with a second place finish in the Premier League a year later, but like many of the managers that came before him and turned up after him, the good times were fleeting. He was fired in December 2018 after overseeing the team’s worst start since the 1990-91 season, offering a repeat of Mourinho’s infamous third season syndrome and perhaps giving a sign that his days as an elite manager were behind him. Though the United tenure did not invalidate his previous accomplishments, Mourinho finishing in first place here is an indictment on the club’s post-Ferguson strategy. The highs were not nearly high enough, the lows were at times record-setting and the period ended on a toxic note that left a sour taste in the mouth in a way that, at times, defines the post-Ferguson period at United.
