Erik ten Hag, a Dutch professional football manager who took over as manager of Manchester United on April 21, 2022, for the 2022–2023 season, finished third in his first season.
Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United secured Champions League eligibility for the 2023–24 season with a decisive 4–1 victory over Chelsea on Thursday at Old Trafford.
Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes, and Casemiro all scored as Erik ten Hag’s team completed another task in his inaugural season as manager.
The players shared their joy on social media following the victory, which moved United up to third in the Premier League standings and ensured they would not fall outside the top four on the season’s final day this weekend.
That notwithstanding, Erik ten Hag is only the fifth Manchester United manager to finish in the top four of the Premier League in his first season in charge, following John Bentley (1912–13), Matt Busby (1946–47), Ron Atkinson (1981–82), and Louis van Gaal (2014–15).
Again, the former Ajax Amsterdam manager holds the record for most wins in a debut season in Manchester United history, with 60 games in all competitions.
Erik Ten Hag’s Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 28 matches at Old Trafford in all competitions; he has 24 wins, 4 draws, 63 goals scored, and 6 clean sheets, which eventually earn David de Gea’s most clean sheets in the English Premier League.
The first Manchester United manager to lose his first two games in charge since John Chapman in 1921 has credible statistics after 60 games in charge at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag can boast 41 wins, a 68.3% win rate, 105 goals, a Carabao Cup winner, a final in the FA Cup, and a Top 4 slot.
Erik Ten Hag is only the third Dutch manager in Premier League history to finish in the top four, joining Guus Hiddink at Chelsea in 2008/09 and Louis Van Gaal at Manchester United in 2014/15.
Erik ten Hag, the three-time successive winner of the Eredivisie with Ajax, has the last league game of the season against Fulham to be on par with Pep Guardiola as the manager with the most Premier League wins in their first full season in England.
In an interview with Sky Sports following the emphatic 4-1 home win over Chelsea, the coach stressed the importance of qualifying for the Champions League at the end of the season.
He stated, “I think we are in the right direction; we know we are still not there where we want to be, but we are back in the Champions League, which was a really important step. If you want to be successful, you have to be in the Champions League.”
