Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt has suggested Erik ten Hag didn’t get the breaks he needed to keep his job at Manchester United despite the Dutchmen sharing early dreams of success, while opening up on talks between the pair.
De Ligt starred under Ten Hag at Ajax as a teenager, and the pair were reunited over the summer.
United moved quickly to snap up the defender after fellow summer signing Leny Yoro picked up an injury, and he impressed in a September victory at Southampton.
That was arguably as good as it got for Ten Hag in his third season, though. The 54-year-old was sacked at the end of October after a defeat at West Ham left United down in 14th, with just 11 points from nine matches.
Reflecting on the conversations they had before De Ligt’s arrival from Bayern Munich, the defender said: “He brought me to Manchester, the goal was to achieve success together with Erik.
“He has not been very lucky. We played well in many matches, but we did not use the chances we got. It is a shame that it has to end like this.”
United went unbeaten across four matches under interim manager Ruud van Nistelrooy after Ten Hag’s departure.
However, with new head coach Ruben Amorim taking over on Monday, Van Nistelrooy has also left the club.
