Almost three years of whatever little progress Manchester United had undergone under Erik ten Hag will have to be undone as the club prepare for a fresh start under a new manager. (PHOTO: AP)
A familiar feeling of flux must have gone through the Manchester United fanbase as yet another high-profile coach bit the dust, trying to tame the metaphorical dragon that is the Old Trafford job. Erik Ten Hag had poked and prodded, ruffling some feathers on the way but ultimately, he was burnt like many others before him as the defeat to West Ham proved to be the final straw for the management to pull the plug on his time as a Manchester United manager.
So, with almost three years of whatever little progress the club had undergone under Ten Hag will have to be undone as United prepare for a fresh start. Yet again. With United legend Ruud van Nistelrooy being appointed the interim coach for the time being, the Old Trafford club have already begun the search for Ten Hag’s successor. If rumours are to be believed, the minority owners Ineos had already lined up familiar names in the summer before Ten Hag convinced them to stick with him after a shock FA Cup win over Manchester City towards the fag end of last season.
Candidates to replace Erik Ten Hag
The frontrunner for the job as of writing is believed to be Ruben Amorim, the current Sporting CP coach who has been on the radar of United’s arch-rivals Manchester City in case Pep Guardiola leaves the club next summer. A wanted man in the market, Amorim has been linked with clubs like Liverpool and Bayern Munich over the summer but has stayed put at Sporting in order to help them win back-to-back league titles for the first time since Benfica’s 2015-16 and 2016-17 season.
The next name in United’s radar is Brentford’s Thomas Frank who was contacted over the summer as one of the potential replacements of Ten Hag. Playing a brand of counter attacking football at Brentford emulating United’s glory days under Sir Alex Ferguson, Frank needs a proper target man which he had for the Bees in Ivan Toney. At United, he will have 21-year-old Rasmus Højlund, someone who he can mould to be the next potent striker.
Other names making the rounds are former Barcelona manager Xavi and former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, both of whose appointments look to be unlikely with the Catalan recently expressing his desire to take time off football while the French legend may be reluctant to commit to a club with his eyes set on the France national team job.
Two more names that always do the rounds whenever any managing jobs are open in the British market are ex-Chelsea manager Graham Potter and ex-England manager Gareth Southgate. Again, Southgate has said that he wanted at least a year off after managing England while Potter might be a more viable choice if the Amorim deal falls through.
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