“One source tells me” – Sky Sports reporter shares worrying Ten Hag news he’s heard from Man United today
It’s that time again at Manchester United.
The dressing room is leaking, the defence is creaking and the fans are weeping. Usually, it only ends in one way: the manager being sacked.
First it was David Moyes, then Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and now Erik ten Hag is fighting to save his job amid a revolt from his own players. 10 defeats in 21 games is a wretched return – their worst start since 1973-74, a season in which the Red Devils were relegated – and despite suggestions that Sir Jim Ratcliffe won’t put Ten Hag’s position under immediate threat in his review of football operations, there’s no doubt minds are beginning to mull over who could be next in the Old Trafford hot seat.
Julian Nagelsmann
Much like United, the German national team are in a deep crisis. Naglesmann is the man challenged with turning things around before hosting Euro 2024, a task so crucial to his mandate that when he was appointed in September, he was only handed a contract up until the end of the tournament, meaning that he may well find himself available again next summer.
That offers the Red Devils a chance to line up the 36-year-old, who’s already managed Bayern Munich, nicknamed FC Hollywood in Germany, a club who garners far more attention than any other – sound familiar?
Nagelsmann notably supported United as a youngster. Speaking in 2020, ahead of a meeting with United while RB Leipzig boss, he revealed: “I watched a lot of games in the Theatre of Dreams and of Manchester United on television. Now to be part of the stadium will be perfect.
“Bayern Munich versus Manchester United, for example, the final when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored. Ryan Giggs played a lot of big games for Manchester United, Paul Scholes, Ruud Van Nistelrooy… A lot of players. I watched nearly every game of Manchester United 10 years ago, when I was a younger guy and a player.”
Graham Potter
With Ratcliffe set to officially come on board at Old Trafford early next week via a £1.3billion deal to purchase a 25 per cent stake from the Glazer family, the British billionaire – a boyhood United fan – and his company INEOS’ sports division plan to overhaul United’s faltering football department. That, of course, could eventually lead to a change at the top, just like petrochemical conglomerate INEOS has done on five occasions since buying French side Nice in 2019.
A man who’s been tipped for a move to the south of France on multiple occasions is former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter, as he’s believed to be admired by Ratcliffe and co. With a reputation for developing players and implementing a fluid style of football, the English tactician has taken a break since his sacking in April and turned down offers.
Surely, though, Potter would be open to taking the United job and proving that his failure to change Chelsea’s fortunes was only a hiccup in his still promising career?
Michael Carrick
Would it really be a next United manager list without mentioning a former player?
Carrick guided Middlesbrough to the play-off semi-finals last season and after a tricky start to this campaign has got one of the Championship’s slickest sides back on song.
Still the measured and cool character he was as a midfield maestro, the 42-year-old worked under both Mourinho and Solskjaer before walking away from Old Trafford in November 2021 after the latter’s sacking and a three-game unbeaten caretaker spell. It’d be a romantic return, although his lack of managerial experience – never mind at a club like United – is a red flag. But he’s not alone.
Ange Postecolgou
While United aren’t the juggernaut that they once were, back when Sir Alex Ferguson was able to poach the Premier League’s finest and weaken his rivals, the Red Devils still boast pulling power which even Postecoglou might struggle to ignore. The Tottenham boss has done a superb job during his six months in charge and had Spurs in the title conversation only a few weeks ago.
The Aussie-Greek coach has shown his ability to make a rapid impact on a group of underperforming and unfancied players, bringing the Scottish title back to Celtic at the first time of asking before turning Tottenham into one of Europe’s best teams to watch within a matter of months.
United would be a much broader task, but the principles of having a proper sort-out remain the same.
