Erik ten Hag made many mistakes during his time in charge at Manchester United but his handling of an Old Trafford hero might be his worst. The Dutch coach was a divisive coach who wasn't afraid to part ways with some huge names including Cristiano Ronaldo whom he fell out after handing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner a bit-part role.
INEOS decided to pull the plug on Ten Hag last November despite handing him a new contract just months earlier. They had conducted several interviews with possible candidates after a dismal 2023-24 campaign but an unlikely FA Cup triumph led to him staying in the dugout for longer than warranted.
Ten Hag was given free rein to target players to fit his system and playing philosophy but there were so many more misses than hits. One of those was Andre Onana who is quite possibly the worst goalkeeper in the club's history and replaced the heroic David de Gea.
De Gea continues to make Ten Hag look foolish
The Glazers gave Ten Hag so much power that he made a U-turn over De Gea's future and ordered the club to withdraw a contract extension offer to the Spaniard. There was reportedly a verbal agreement in place for a new deal to include reduced wages.
De Gea was sent packing and United turned to Onana who was Ten Hag's number one at Ajax. It's fair to say the Cameroonian was a disaster, failing to be the required replacement for a goalkeeper who had racked up 190 clean sheets in 545 club games.
The 34-year-old has since headed to Fiorentina and is performing extremely well in Serie A. According to DataMB, no goalkeeper in Europe's top five leagues has prevented more goals per 90 minutes than De Gea (0.68 goals prevented).
With Onana sent on loan to Turkish outfit Trabzonspor, it's clear that Ten Hag will live to rue the day he decided Ten Hag was no longer needed between the sticks. What's worse, he turned to one of the biggest flops the Stretford End have ever witnessed.
Senne Lammens seems the right replacement
Ruben Amorim was showing signs of being just as delusional over the goalkeeping situation when it seemed he was prepared for Onana to stay at the start of the season. The horror show against Grimsby Town in a Carabao Cup defeat gave the Portuguese no choice but to part with the Cameroonian.
Altay Bayindir was given the chance to claim the number one jersey and the Turk's unreliable displays made clear a new shot-stopper was needed. He can be a capable backup but there are so many weaknesses in his game that his defenders were clearly wary of.
The decision to sign Senne Lammens on deadline day was a bold one given the club were linked with more experienced options such as Aston Villa's Emi Martinez. But Lammens' performance in the 2-0 win over Sunderland last weekend hinted that United may have finally found their De Gea replacement.
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