Manchester United have sacked Erik ten Hag after Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at West Ham marked the club’s worst start to a Premier League season.

United have one win from their last five top-flight games and sit 14th in the division, seven points above the relegation zone, having scored just eight goals in nine league games. The club hierarchy felt there was no excuse for the performances on the pitch and made the decision to part ways with Ten Hag, informing him of this on Monday morning.

Former Manchester United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, who joined the club’s coaching staff in the summer, will take charge of the first team in the short term. United’s next game is at home against Leicester in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.

Ten Hag was thought to need to win at least one of last week’s games against Fenerbahce in the Europa League and at West Ham. United were held to a 1-1 draw by Jose Mourinho’s side in Turkey and Sunday’s result sealed their fate. United were keen to give him time as they wanted as much continuity as possible during a period of change at the club. It was hoped that Ten Hag would work closely with new sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox to help the club after their eighth-place finish last season, but there was no apparent improvement.

The decision is the most significant made by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his allies since his company Ineos took a minority stake. United finished eighth in the Premier League last season, their lowest league finish since 1990, and started this season with four wins from 13 games in all competitions.

At the beginning of September, United boss Omar Berrada and Ashworth publicly expressed their support for Ten Hag. “Do we still believe in Erik?” Berrada said. “Absolutely. We think Erik is the right coach for us and we are fully behind him.” However, three days later, the Guardian reported that his “playing model” was under scrutiny.

Ten Hag was under intense pressure at the end of last season but secured victory against Manchester City in the FA Cup final and kept his job after United held talks with several candidates.

One of them was Thomas Tuchel, who retired from office and then took up the position as coach of the England national team. Other potential successors include Brentford’s Thomas Frank and former England manager Gareth Southgate.

Ten Hag left Ajax to succeed interim manager Ralf Rangnick at United for the 2022/23 season. The Dutchman was given a contract until June 2025 with the option of an extension for a further year, which was taken up in a brief statement of support from Ratcliffe this summer.

United finished third in Ten Hag’s first season, 14 points off the top, and won the Carabao Cup by beating Newcastle in the final.