Has a major refereeing blunder just cost Erik ten Hag his job at Manchester United?



Manchester United’s nightmare start to the season continued today with a 2-1 defeat away to West Ham, but were Erik ten Hag’s side actually pretty unlucky?

Diogo Dalot missed a great chance for Man Utd earlier in the game, while others like Alejandro Garnacho could also surely have done better on a few occasions.

The Red Devils clearly could’ve won this with a bit more composure in front of goal, and at the very least, they could perhaps have come away with a draw if not for a very harsh penalty decision late on.

Jarrod Bowen ended up scoring from the spot, but did the referee miss a handball by Danny Ings in the build-up?

See below for ESPN’s closer look at the incident, which does perhaps suggest United got really unlucky late in the game, with a decision that could ultimately end up costing Erik ten Hag his job as he really doesn’t look like a manager who can afford another defeat…

The ball appeared to hit Danny Ings' arm prior to the foul being committed by Matthijs de Ligt, but no handball was called on the play.

West Ham went on to take the lead from the penalty spot and win the game. pic.twitter.com/YH3bZNJXwn

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 27, 2024

Even if this does end up being the final nail in Ten Hag’s coffin, you’d have to say it’s probably not really the main issue that’s cost the Dutchman at Old Trafford.

Ten Hag has had a long time to try to get things right at United, but the performances have been poor for pretty much his entire reign, save for some one-off displays in cup finals that ended up buying the former Ajax boss more time.

Will this be Erik ten Hag’s last game as Manchester United manager?

Erik ten Hag’s Man United lost to West Ham (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

It’s hard to know for sure if United will view this as one defeat too many, as they’ve arguably already given Ten Hag too much time.


 

Many fans will be fed up and feel Ten Hag’s sacking has been a long time coming, but it seems there are plenty inside the club who feel content to keep backing him for a bit longer.