Manchester United’s Europa League conquerors last season have sacked their manager months after winning the trophy.
Marca report Sevilla have sacked manager José Luis Mendilibar after a poor run of form.
Mendilibar was appointed prior to last season’s quarter-final, taking on the biggest job of his career.
He led Sevilla to a comeback draw at Old Trafford and a home win against a crumbling United, a 5-2 aggregate win.
After getting one over on Erik ten Hag, Mendilibar then beat Jose Mourinho‘s Roma in the final.
Sevilla form in 2023/24
Sevilla have stagnated this season and are slumped down in 14th place in La Liga, with only two points from eight games.
At the weekend they scraped a 2-2 draw with Rayo Vallecano with a goal in injury time, but the late comeback was not enough to save Mendilibar’s job.
Europa League success counts for little
The Europa League success counted for little. The timeline has been sped up, but winning the trophy in 2017 did not save Jose Mourinho from being sacked in 2018 by Manchester United either.
Some fans have wondered whether Ole Gunnar Solskjaer‘s fate at Manchester United in 2021 would have been different, if the team had won the Europa League final months earlier, instead of losing on penalties.
Perhaps United would have been more generous, but the example of Mendilibar is another reminder that football moves on quickly, and current form is often considered more important than what has happened in the past.
That’s a reminder for Erik ten Hag too, who will know that Carabao Cup success last season alone will not keep him in a job this season, if the team’s poor form continues to slide.
United have four wins from eight league games, and two losses from two in the Champions League.
Ten Hag’s job seems safe for now, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was safe in early October 2021 too. By mid-November he was gone. Ten Hag needs results to improve, and not worsen.
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