Erik ten Hag left Manchester United over a year ago, but there are still dressing room stories to be unearthed about the Dutchman that even shook club captain Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Dalot and other teammates.
It has, in fact, been one year of Ruben Amorim at Manchester United. The Portuguese was deemed Erik ten Hag’s successor at Old Trafford, and it’s been a rather turbulent 12 months at the helm.
But amid the chaos, some success has come to fruition, and United are in a better position than they were at this point last season.
That is especially true when you hear some dressing room stories about the former United manager, as his career at Old Trafford was coming to an end.
Erik ten Hag bust-up which shocked Man United players
Laurie Whitwell, reporter for The Athletic, has revealed that there was a dramatic bust-up after United drew 3-3 to Porto in the Europa League last season.
Following United’s 3-3 draw with Porto in October 2024, Ten Hag confronted his squad after they squandered a 2-0 lead, rescued by Harry Maguire’s stoppage-time equaliser.
The manager was “furious at a sloppy defensive display” and pressed home “how they needed to change mentality and be disciplined on the pitch to find success” during what became “a long inquest.”
After Ten Hag finished, Bruno Fernandes and senior players “requested Ten Hag and his assistants leave the dressing room so the players could have a debrief themselves.”
While player-only sessions weren’t unprecedented – a similar occurrence followed a Newcastle defeat in 2023 – “the mood was different” in Porto.
Multiple players “took exception to the tone of Ten Hag’s criticism,” with Diogo Dalot delivering “an impassioned speech using strong language,” suggesting to teammates “they would have to summon performances, whatever some of them might feel about the manager.”
To say he’d lost the dressing room might be an understatement.
Ruben Amorim building a happier Manchester United culture
Evidently, the Manchester United first-team were not happy, and the dismissal of Erik ten Hag was the correct decision.
Amorim has a side under his management now that looks happier, on and off the pitch. More importantly, from a fan perspective, things are being done to make the mood happier at the club.
How would you rate Manchester United’s season after 11 Premier League games?
Whitwell further reports that Amorim understands the “responsibility” of being at Manchester United.
In so, he’s “laid down a rule” that half his squad must sign autographs for fans outside Old Trafford before the game, which has led to an influx in doing so anyway.
The report also states Amorim himself stays late to pose for pictures and has been gifting shirts to young fans at Carrington.
Now that’s a man you want as the first-team coach of Manchester United.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
