Ruud van Nistelrooy has given Man United something they didn't have before - it's bad news for Erik ten Hag

When Erik ten Hag's future was debated by a football hierarchy still in its infancy at Manchester United in the summer, there were a couple of reasons it was considered safer to stick rather than twist.

For starters, Sir Jim Ratcliffe's football structure was only just beginning to take shape. When the decision to back Ten Hag was made in June, it was before either chief executive Omar Berrada or sporting director Dan Ashworth had officially started work.

Ashworth would take office on July 1, and Berrada on July 13. Had United dispensed with Ten Hag in early June, the search for an ideal replacement would have been complicated, given that two of the people a head coach would most regularly report to were still on gardening leave.

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United did consider replacements for Ten Hag. Thomas Tuchel, Roberto De Zerbi, and Thomas Frank were all discussed and spoken to, but none truly convinced. It wasn't an ideal time to make such a seismic change, and it might have been considered the safer call to stick with a manager who had just won the FA Cup.

Ineos felt that showed what Ten Hag could do and that he earned the chance to work under a proper football structure, but the risks were also obvious. One swallow doesn't make a summer, and one game doesn't make a season. The overwhelming evidence of last season was negative and that has continued into 2024/25.

Now, 97 days after United extended Ten Hag's contract, his future will be up for debate at an executive committee meeting in London, and there will be no surprises if that discussion ends with the consensus that