1 week Ago By The Straits Times
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag celebrates with the trophy after winning the FA Cup last season. LONDON – Erik ten Hag had the sympathy of managers around the English Premier League a day after he was sacked by Manchester United, with most saying they could face the same fate any day in the results-driven business. “I feel very sorry for him, it’s one of the best jobs in football,” Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said on Oct 29.
“I wish him all the best and he will come back stronger. If the results aren’t good enough, you get sacked. No-one is different, myself included.
” Liverpool manager Arne Slot said that as a fellow Dutchman, ten Hag’s dismissal hit harder but believes the 54-year-old will land on his feet. “Always your first thoughts are with the person,” he said. “We are all in this job so we know that it can happen, but if it happens – especially because I know him a little bit and I know how much work he puts into it – to get this news for him is a pity.
“We also know, especially us from Holland how well he did at Ajax (Amsterdam) and he won two trophies over here so we will see him in the near future again at a big club.” Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou said he was not shocked by the news, as like Guardiola and Slot he believed that the manager’s job is never safe. “I guess disappointed as it was inevitable with the scrutiny he’d had.
It’s the nature of football these days,” he said, adding that the intense scrutiny has made it increasingly difficult to do the job. “It seems like if you look at Erik, in those two years (he won) trophies – one in each year (the League Cup and the FA Cup). If he was here (at Spurs) with that record, would he have lost his job? I don’t know.
Everyone tells me all I have to do is win a trophy.” Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said ten Hag is a phenomenal coach and had done a really good job at United. “It’s always sad to see one of our colleagues lose his job.
I think, he had done a really good job, he’d won titles there, he had changed a lot of things,” the Spaniard said. “He is a phenomenal coach and it is difficult. Unfortunately when these things happen, the exposure we have as managers, we are always in the line.
“But they made the decision (to sack him) and I wish him all the best for his new chapter.” REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you. Read 3 articles and stand to win rewards Spin the wheel now.
