Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag has been confirmed as the Premier League’s Manager of the Month for September, following votes from experts and supporters.
The Dutchman beat fellow top-flight bosses Antonio Conte and Gary O’Neil – of Spurs and Bournemouth, respectively – to the prize after guiding the Reds to victories over Leicester and Arsenal.
Ten Hag becomes only the second United manager to have won the accolade since the Sir Alex Ferguson era, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer being named Manager of the Month in February 2019.
Erik’s victory also makes it a Reds double, with our forward Marcus Rashford winning the Player of the Month award. This, again, is only the second time we have been handed both accolades in the same month, with Rashford also scooping the award alongside Solskjaer three years ago.
The first of United's September successes came on the first day of the month, when the Reds travelled to Leicester in search of a third consecutive Premier League win, after defeating Liverpool and Southampton at the back end of August.
Jadon Sancho, assisted by Marcus Rashford, scored the crucial goal at the King Power Stadium to continue our run of form with a 1-0 victory.
And this result was followed up just three days later, this time with an Old Trafford triumph over Arsenal who were previously unbeaten as the early leaders in the table.
Rashford put in another sparkling performance, and one that effectively sealed his Premier League Player of the Month accolade, assisting for new signing Antony in the first half before scoring two goals himself in United’s eventual 3-1 win.
The passing of Queen Elizabeth II on 8 September led to our other two league fixtures scheduled for September, against Crystal Palace and Leeds United, being postponed.
No Premier League club played more than three league matches during the month. Ten Hag and his two fellow nominees for the Manager of the Month award, Conte and O’Neil, all had two games to oversee.
Experts and fans weighed in at the end of the month and determined that Erik, whose United blueprint is becoming clearer with every match, was the winner of September’s award.
Following his achievement, the boss will no doubt be eager to follow it up with another Premier League win this Sunday, when we make the short trip to the Etihad Stadium for the Manchester derby.
Congratulations, Erik!