Following Ruben Amorim’s appointment at Manchester United, Sports Mole takes a look at how the club’s previous managers have fared in their opening game.
The appointment of Ruben Amorim as Erik ten Hag‘s permanent replacement at Manchester United takes the number of men to have been handed the role to six since Sir Alex Ferguson‘s retirement just over a decade ago.
First and foremost, the incoming Portuguese manager will seek to lift the Red Devils out of the bottom half of the Premier League, starting with his first game against Ipswich Town in two weeks.
A manager’s first game in charge can often be deceiving, or be a warning sign of what is to come, and that has certainly been the case at Old Trafford since Ferguson’s departure.
As Ruben Amorim takes charge officially at Manchester United, Sports Mole looks back at the opening match of each managerial reign since the Ferguson era ended.
David Moyes: Manchester United 2-0 Wigan Athletic
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The man handed the arduous task of replacing Ferguson was David Moyes, who arrived after a great spell at Everton, where despite failing to win a trophy, often competed in the top half of the league.
Moyes’s opening game in charge also saw him claim his first, and only, piece of silverware with the club, as Robin van Persie‘s double saw them beat recently-relegated FA Cup winners Wigan Athletic 2-0 at Wembley.
The Scotsman’s first Premier League game in charge saw them win 4-1 away to Swansea City, but that was most definitely a false dawn, as Man United made their worst start to a PL season and Moyes was sacked after losing to former club Everton in April.
Louis van Gaal: Manchester United 1-2 Swansea City
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With morale low following a dismal first season post-Fergie, the Louis van Gaal reign also got off to a shocking start at home to Swansea.
After Wayne Rooney cancelled out Ki Sung-yeung‘s opener, Gylfi Sigurdsson netted with just over 15 minutes remaining to hand the Welsh club their first ever league win at Old Trafford, and condemned Man United to their first opening day home defeat in 42 years.
Barely a week later, United lost 4-0 at MK Dons in the EFL Cup, and even though Van Gaal made a worse start than Moyes, the Dutchman guided them to a top-four finish, but was sacked the following year despite winning the FA Cup.
Jose Mourinho: Manchester United 2-1 Leicester City
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Van Gaal’s FA Cup success saw Man United compete in the following season’s Community Shield against fairytale Premier League winners Leicester City in what would be Jose Mourinho’s first game in charge.
Like Moyes in his first outing, Mourinho was victorious, with Zlatan Ibrahimovic scoring the late winner after Jesse Lingard‘s opener had been cancelled out by Jamie Vardy at Wembley.
United won 3-1 at Bournemouth in Mourinho’s first league game at the helm, and they would go on to win the Europa League and EFL Cup that season, before finishing second to Manchester City’s centurions the year after, but a poor start to his third season saw the Portuguese boss dismissed.
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In the final game before Christmas 2018, United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over on a caretaker basis after Mourinho’s departure, with his first assignment being against the only other British club he managed, Cardiff City.
The Red Devils were dominant from start to finish, as goals from Marcus Rashford, Ander Herrera and Anthony Martial had them 3-1 up at half time, before Lingard’s second-half double turned it into a thrashing.
It was the first time they had scored five in a league game since Ferguson left, and Solskjaer would become the first manager to win his first five matches in charge since Sir Matt Busby in 1946.
After winning 14 of 19 games as caretaker, Solskjaer was made permanent manager and won 2-1 against Watford at Old Trafford a few days later, but would win just one of the remaining nine games that season, and after three trophyless years, the Norwegian was sacked, coming full circle with a defeat to Watford.
Ralf Rangnick: Manchester United 1-0 Crystal Palace
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While technically not a permanent manager, Ralf Rangnick was initially hired on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2021-22 season, before being set to take up a consultancy role the following season.
United limped over the line in Rangnick’s first game, with Fred‘s 77th-minute winner the decisive moment in a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace, but after ending the season on 58 points – their worst in the Premier League era – the German left the club entirely after just five months.
Erik ten Hag: Manchester United 1-2 Brighton
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In similar fashion to Van Gaal’s first Old Trafford experience, Dutch compatriot Erik ten Hag suffered the same fate, losing 2-1 to a mid-table club, and this time it was Brighton & Hove Albion who stunned the Theatre of Dreams.
Two quick-fire first-half goals from Pascal Gross put the Seagulls in command at half time, and despite an own goal from Alexis Mac Allister, Man United could not mount a comeback and fell to defeat.
Ten Hag would then lose 4-0 at Brentford in his second game, but eventually guided the club to a third-place finish and EFL Cup success that season, but was sacked after just over two years in charge.
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