How Erik ten Hag lost his grip on United: The Dutch tactician turned his back ... trends now

Manchester United have reportedly decided to sack Erik ten Hag regardless of the outcome of Saturday's FA Cup final.

The Dutch coach has endured a difficult second season at Old Trafford, finishing eighth in the Premier League - the club's lowest finish since 1990 - and falling short in the Champions League and Carabao Cup.

While they have made the FA Cup showpiece at Wembley, they begin as underdogs against rivals Manchester City.

Yet despite a successful career - from leaving his small hometown in Holland, overcoming a number of personal tragedies and finally managing one of the greatest clubs in the world - he now faces the sack. 

The Dutch tactician will reportedly be sacked even if he manages to upset the odds and beats City. 

According to The Guardian, United co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos have decided to dispense with Ten Hag even if United wins on Saturday.

Thomas Tuchel, Mauricio Pochettino, Kieran McKenna, Thomas Frank and Graham Potter will reportedly be considered as a replacement for Ten Hag.

The move would represent the most decisive action since Ratcliffe and Ineos completed their purchase of a 27.7 per cent stake from the Glazer family last December, taking over control of football operations. 

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Erik ten Hag insists he will 'keep going' despite uncertainty over his future at Man United... as Dutchman claims he's 'just focusing' on their FA Cup final

They have wasted no time in reshaping United's executive structure and sketching out plans to rebuild Old Trafford but have remained non-committal over Ten Hag's future in recent weeks.  

Ten Hag started life in the small Dutch town of Oldenzaal, just outside Enschede, not far from the Dutch-German border, where his parents founded a family business - the ten Hag real estate agency.

A football obsessive from a young age, he turned down the chance to work at the business, which is now run by his two brothers, and instead decided to pursue a career in the sport.

The family man has two daughters and a son with his wife Bianca, who was his childhood sweetheart.

Ten Hag enjoyed a modest footballing career - mostly with FC Twente who he had three spells with - starting in 1989, and retired from playing in 2002 and set about his coaching journey which would one day take him to Old Trafford.

Those close to him - who are unsurprised by Ten Hag's meteoric rise to the top of the sport - believe he has been driven to succeed by the tragedies that have affected his friends, as if determined to seize the opportunities they never had. 

The first of these happened in June 1989 when his friend, Andy Scharmin - who along with Ten Hag was on the verge of breaking into Twente's first team - was killed in a plane crash. 

Scharmin, who was born in Suriname, a former Dutch colony in South America, was travelling back there for a charity tournament having rejected the chance to play for Netherlands' under-21s in a tournament in Toulon.

However, the Suriname Airways Flight crashed on its approach to Paramaribo-Zanderij Airport on June 7, 1989. Scharmin, his mother and 14 other players were among the 178 of the 187 people on board who died. 

Ten Hag, then 19, learned the devastating news when his team-mate at FC Twente, Edwin Hilgerink, knocked on his front door in the small town of Haaksbergen where they were brought up in the east of the country.

'I will never forget Edwin standing on my doorstep to tell me that a plane had crashed with Andy and his mother on board,' Ten Hag recalled.

'That was a huge blow. At his funeral I carried Andy's coffin with other team-mates. It happened on June 7, 1989, and every year on that date I have a day of mourning.'

Scharmin's death isn't the only tragedy that still haunts Ten Hag. 

Gino Weber, his friend and former youth team-mate at Twente who Ten Hag described as 'the best talent in the Netherlands' when they were coming through the youth setup, committed suicide at the age of 33 after his career had been derailed by injuries.

Weber suffered from borderline personality disorder, a mental illness that severely affects how the sufferer is able to control their emotions. It led to depression and addiction.

An alcoholic and a gambler, he stole from his team-mates and was sent to prison for robbery. He self-harmed and his brother recalls how Weber would injure his knees and ankles with iron rods to make sure he couldn't play.

He quit football aged 22. For the last five years of his life, he lived alone and, in July 2003, was found dead in a chair in his home from an overdose of alcohol and medication. He was only 33.

Weber's death had a profound impact on Ten Hag who remains in contact with Weber's family.

'Two great talents,' Weber's brother Ben told the Mail on Sunday. 'Erik reached the top and Gino died in loneliness.' 

Ten Hag and Weber clicked on the pitch as much as off it. ‘They understood each other without words,’ says Ben, who also played as a professional for FC Twente. ‘Erik was a big leader on the field, the captain of the team. It’s also why he’s a good coach.'

Ben was on holiday in France in July 2003 when his mother called and told them to come home at once. Gino was dead. Ben believes the overdose was accidental.

‘It was not a good life. It was a very bad life.’

Ten Hag called the family to pass on his condolences as soon as he heard the news. He still keeps in contact. He and Ben played together in an FC Twente all-stars game and reminisced about how good Weber was and could have been. 

Another member of Twente's youth-team squad, Wilfried Elzinga, saw his career cruelly cut short by injury.

Ten Hag's philosophy has been heavily influenced by his mentor and former youth-team coach Epi Drost, who died of a heart attack aged 49 in 1995.

'I often think back to my youth at Twente,' said Ten Hag. 'Three boys were so good they could have made it to the national team. But one of them was seriously injured and two other boys died young. It puts everything into perspective.

'Epi Drost was my

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