Erik ten Hag felt ‘let down’ by three senior Man Utd stars before sacking

Erik ten Hag felt he was ‘let down’ by a number of senior players in the Manchester United squad, including Marcus Rashford and Casemiro.

The Dutchman was given his marching orders on Monday the day after the 2-1 defeat to West Ham, United’s fourth defeat in nine Premier League games which left them slumped 14thin the table.

Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of tonight’s Carabao Cup clash against Leicester City with the club hopeful of bringing in Ruben Amorim from Sporting Lisbon as their new permanent boss before the weekend.

Ten Hag departs having won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in his two seasons in charge in Manchester.

That success at Wembley last May saved him from the sack at the end of last season after a miserable end to the Premier League campaign but a lack of any real progress this term after being backed heavily in the summer signalled the end.

While the former Ajax boss is not thought to have lost the dressing room by the end, The Daily Star report Ten Hag felt he had been let down by some senior players, including Casemiro, Rashford and Antony.

Casemiro joined United from Real Madrid during Ten Hag’s first summer in charge, enjoying a superb first campaign in Manchester. The Brazilian struggled last season however and was dropped from the squad for the FA Cup final against City.

Rashford was among the players disciplined by Ten Hag during his time in charge, dropped from the starting XI over his timekeeping in January 2023.

The forward was also forced to apologise to the manager for going to a pre-arranged birthday party in October last year just hours after United were thrashed 3-0 at home to Manchester City.

Rashford was in hot water again in February after he missed training ahead of an FA Cup match having been spotted partying in Belfast just hours before.

Antony meanwhile has persistently struggled since his £84million move from Ajax, managing just a minute of Premier League action this term.

Bruno Fernandes, Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo were among those to pay warm tributes to Ten Hag following news of his dismissal.