Man Utd cannot sleep on biggest manager appointment since 2013 in hardest summer
If it wasn’t already, the writing appears to be on the wall for Erik ten Hag at Manchester United barring a monumental turnaround between now and the end of the season both in terms of results and performances. The club now needs to act quickly in what is set to be the busiest summer of managerial change in over a decade.
Sunday’s derby defeat at the Etihad Stadium left United 11 points off fourth and six off that frankly ridiculous potential fifth spot for Champions League football, and they have played a game more than Spurs.
It feels unlikely that Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his team will wait until qualification is a mathematically impossible task as the Glazers did with David Moyes in 2014 to avoid a bigger pay-out, and an FA Cup triumph will not paper over what has been a desperately disappointing season.
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Granted there have been mitigating factors such as the constant off-field issues that blighted much of the campaign, the loss of Luke Shaw and Lisandro Martinez among others for months on end and the general malaise United find themselves in as a club, but that only goes so far and a level of standards remain. And those standards have not been met.
Results are easy to analyse – and certainly coming bottom of a relatively easy Champions League group on top of 11 league losses are hard to argue against – but performances, system and style are just as important to consider when deciding whether a manager is fit for the long term.
With Ratcliffe looking for ‘best in class’ across the board, Ten Hag hasn’t done enough this season to suggest he will deliver that – if anything, United’s direction has been downwards since their League Cup win last season, which was intended to act as a springboard. Again, not all of it is the manager’s fault – it never is at United – but change seems imminent.
Ratcliffe and his INEOS colleagues Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc, have already been decisive in their opening weeks at Old Trafford. Omar Berrada has been lured from Manchester City, Dan Ashworth will arrive once he’s finished tending to his garden, and Jason Wilcox and Dougie Freedman look to be next on the executive shopping list.
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Some, if not all, of this brains trust will decide the managerial position. Right now, they have a free hit given new owners (or head of football operations) almost always get their own man, but they will be responsible if Ten Hag is kept on and then dismissed next season.
It is a big call but one that needs to be made sharpish, particularly given the current football landscape.
With PSR, FPP et al. set to somewhat restrict the player transfer market this summer, the managerial market could take centre stage, especially with the clubs involved.
Already three of the biggest clubs in the world are on the look-out for new managers, and United will be analysing the same targets as Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Barcelona outside of Xabi Alonso, who is almost certain not to cross the divide.
Chelsea and Juventus could be added to that list, which also includes Serie A champions, Napoli, but they are realistically not a true threat to United’s plans.
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There are very few, if any, proven top-level options out there, with Ruben Amorim, Julien Nagelsmann and Roberto De Zerbi perhaps the best options outside of Alonso.
Zinedine Zidane is reportedly ‘admired’ by INEOS, but he seems to be waiting on the France job for the meantime and has never shown any indication of working in England. Thomas Tuchel’s reputation has been bruised at Bayern, and he has no record of being a long-term fit.
It is a summer in sharp contrast to 2016 when Pep Guardiola, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte came to the Premier League, and while the Portuguese gaffer eventually flamed out at United, he was a marked improvement on their 2013 appointment, when one special era ended, and the ongoing shambolic one began.
As is widely known and oft-derided, Sir Alex Ferguson selected David Moyes as his successor, leading to his tongue-in-cheek anointment as ‘The Chosen One’.
It was very much a play on words for Mourinho, who allegedly broke down in tears when he realised he would not replace his managerial idol, instead having to decamp to Chelsea for a second stint.
Elsewhere in the last European managerial merry-go-round, Guardiola went to Bayern Munich (albeit it was agreed at Christmas 2012), and Carlo Ancelotti pitched up at Real Madrid for the first time.
Laurent Blanc replaced the Italian at PSG, not that he ever reached the heights in the dug-out that he did on the pitch.
Jurgen Klopp could and should have been approached, although 12 months later Ed Woodward would attempt to woo him, telling him United was “like an adult version of Disneyland”. Unsurprisingly, this was met with a polite no.
United plumped for Moyes instead, taking the word of their legendary former manager, which pointed to the lack of leadership elsewhere in the club – David Gill also stepped down at the same time, which did not help things then or since.
In 2013, Fergie told those at the heart of the United operations he would be stepping down in February, with it not being leaked and then officially announced until May. The club had time to make a proper decision, even if it was ill-thought out and botched.
In 2024, Ratcliffe and co. have a month less, but one suspects, based on their actions so far, the process has already begun. Moyes is likely to be available again if all else fails.
