Man United hire ten Hag as 5th manager in 9 years

MANCHESTER, England — Once a model of coaching stability in Alex Ferguson’s long trophy-filled tenure, Manchester United hired a fifth full-time manager in nine years since his retirement by bringing in Erik ten Hag from Ajax.

Ten Hag’s arrival was announced by United on Thursday, with the 52-year-old Dutchman joining at the end of the season to 2025. He is tasked with awakening a fallen superpower in European soccer that is enduring its longest trophy drought in nearly 40 years.

“I am hugely excited by the challenge ahead,” ten Hag said. “I know the history of this great club and the passion of the fans, and I am absolutely determined to develop a team capable of delivering the success they deserve.”

Adopting the attacking philosophy of the great Johan Cruyff, ten Hag succeeded in bringing the good times back to Ajax, leading the biggest team in the Netherlands to two Eredivisie titles — it could be three in a few weeks — as well as the Champions League semifinals in entertaining style in 2019.

Returning United to its former heights is set to be an even bigger job, given the team won the last of its record 20 English titles in 2013 — Ferguson’s final season of his 26-year reign — and hasn’t won a trophy since beating Ajax in the Europa League final in 2017. United hasn’t endured such a trophy drought since the early 1980s and has slipped way behind rivals Manchester City and Liverpool despite continuing to spend heavily on players.

Nowhere was this decline more evident than this week, when United was thrashed 4-0 by Liverpool to go along with its rival's 5-0 win at Old Trafford in October.

The three-time European champion might not even return to the Champions League next season. United is three points out of the