Erik ten Hag left with egg on his face over Liverpool comments after Man Utd fire him

Erik ten Hag has been left red-faced s of dominance as Manchester United manager.

The Dutchman following a dismal start to the campaign, leaving the Red Devils languishing in 14th in the after just three wins from their opening nine games.

In fact, has won just one of its last five games in the top flight and eight in all competitions, with the club also drawing its first three games against Twente, Porto and Fenerbahce in the .

The Red Devils also find themselves as the third lowest scorers in the top flight, having found the back of the net on just eight occasions so far this campaign. One particular statistic, though, stands out from the rest.

When took over at Old Trafford in the summer of 2022, and were the Premier League's most dominant forces. However, the former Ajax man vowed to bring an end to their dominance following his arrival.

"I admire them both, Manchester City and Liverpool," the 54-year-old said at the time. "They both play fantastic football. But you will see an era come to an end."

Less than two-and-a-half years later, Ten Hag finds himself sacked after leading United to its worst ever start to a top flight campaign in its history. Meanwhile, Man City and Liverpool occupy the top two positions with more than double the amount of wins, points and goals scored.

Winning the Premier League in his first two seasons was never a realistic target for Ten Hag but to be challenging in his third full campaign would have been a realistic ambition. Instead, he has taken a monumental backwards step despite more than $260million (£200m/€240m) of spending during the summer.

Across the city, continues to shine with Man City as he leads the charge for a record-breaking fifth successive top flight title. Down the M62, Liverpool is hot on its heels under the stewardship of new boss .

Not to mention, in just the third game of the season, where the man who had been in charge for two months appeared far superior to the one who had been in charge for 26 months.

While Man City and Liverpool continue to lead the charge at the top of the Premier League, Man United must now start from scratch once more and find yet another manager who can turn them into a title-challenging force. Since Sir Alex Ferguson's retirement, five had tried and failed.