Manchester United will face a managerless FC Sheriff at Old Trafford on Thursday night after Stjepan Tomas resigned from his position.
United are due to take on the Moldovan side in an 8pm kick-off in the Europa League group stages. But Tomas will not lead Sheriff in one of the biggest matches of the club’s history after he stepped down on Tuesday.
The 46-year-old Croatian resigned after losing 1-0 to FC Petrocub on Sunday – Sheriff’s first defeat of the league season. Sheriff remain six points clear at the top of the Moldovan National Division, but that hasn’t saved Tomas, who only lasted four months in the job.
“The head coach of FC Sheriff, Stjepan Tomas, [has] resigned,” the club wrote in a statement on Twitter. “After Sunday's match with FC Petrocub the Croatian manager took the blame for the defeat, saying: ‘It seems that the players were thinking about the match in Manchester, there was no concentration. This is my mistake’.
“In four months, together with the team, Stepan Tomas managed to create a team from scratch, which successfully passed the qualification for European cups, having managed, in fact, with the new team, which he created from scratch in a short time, to break into the group stage of the Europa League.
“The team of FC Sheriff thanks Stepan Tomas and his coaching staff for the work done, contribution to the development of the club and its promotion in the international arena.”
United, who beat Sheriff 2-0 in the reverse fixture in September, are second in Group E of the Europa League, three points behind Real Sociedad, who have a perfect record of four wins from four games. Erik ten Hag’s side are on nine points – six clear of Sheriff in third – and will secure their qualification for the knockout stages with a point on Thursday.
The home team are in good form, six games unbeaten since their 6-3 thrashing by Manchester City in the derby on October 2. Casemiro’s 94th-minute header against Chelsea on Saturday preserved that run, despite Cristiano Ronaldo ’s absence.
After being left out of the trip to Stamford Bridge for disciplinary reasons after refusing to come off the bench against Spurs, Ronaldo returned to training on Tuesday. Mirror Football understands that the issue is now water under the bridge and Ronaldo is in contention to start Thursday's Europa League tie.
“To get a top sports culture and to set the highest standards, we have to live by them,” Ten Hag said in explaining his decision. “That's what we do at the moment. It’s about the club. I have to take decisions in the interests of the club and the team especially, that’s my job. It doesn’t matter who it is, the age or reputation. The expectations of Manchester United are really high. The ambitions are high. Our fans, all of our stakeholders, expect results, so you have to act to certain standards and work every day on that."
