Make no mistake – in the ambitious world of Sir Jim Ratcliffe there is no place for Erik ten Hag. The British billionaire and lifelong Manchester United fan tried to buy the club from Glazer family and when he realized that it won‘t happen, bough a minority share (25%) for around 1.3 billion dollars. With that kind of sum, he came in to revive the sleeping giant and especially its weakest part – the sports sector. So far, he brought in a new CEO (from Manchester City), a new technical director (from Southampton) and they are trying to come up with a solution with Newcastle United over the compensation for Dan Ashworth as the new sports director. And to make everything new, they need a new coach as well. “Tuchel has had loose contact with Manchester United” 👀Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg says Thomas Tuchel’s representatives have spoken to Manchester United and he is also an option for Chelsea 🏴 pic.twitter.com/ps13Ht7leF— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 20, 2024 If Ten Hag had good results like last season, he would certainly be at the helm after EURO, but since he finished in the eight place and faces a season without Europe, it‘s hard to see how he could possibly stay on the bench. With every move so far, Ratcliffe showed he wants excellence, something Ten Hag is clearly not. But, in the shortage of competent replacements, there were talk that United is prepared to ‘sacrifice‘ another season and let the Dutchman fulfil his last contractual season. But not anymore. Enter Thomas Tuchel and Mauricio Pochettino. Not an April’s fool joke – Ten Hag stays onIt is well known fact that Ten Hag‘s future will be resolved right after Saturday‘s game with Manchester City and only the FA Cup trophy could save him now. But, since both Tuchel and Pochettino are suddenly available now, a new meeting happened at Old Trafford, and two more names have been added to the list – Thomas Frank and Kieran McKenna. There is not much more to be said about the German tactician. Even thou his man management skills are certainly not the best ones out there, he did won the Champions League once (Chelsea) and was in one final (PSG) and one semi-final (Bayern Munich), which certainly makes him an upgrade over Ten Hag. Better experience in the Premier League than the Dutchman has Mauricio Pochettino, who made it to the Champions League final with Tottenham, and was in Southampton prior to that, while his first (and last) season at Chelsea could be considered a success, if we count in the new and unbalanced squad and the huge amount of injuries. Optimistic Onana: A season to forget but FA Cup could shine some light on itOther two candidates are a mixed bag. McKenna previously worked as an assistant to both Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer at Old Trafford and could be prized out of Portman Road via a 6 million pounds compensation fee. He led small Ipswich Town to back-to-back promotions, but he is certainly unproven yet, although he knows the Old Trafford pretty well. With him, the Red Devils would get an ‘in-house‘ candidate, but an unproven coach. If they ride with him, they risk either to strike gold or to miss completely as Manhcester United is a tough place for any manager. He also has offers from both Chelsea and Brighton. Meanwhile, Thomas Frank is the fourth contender basically due to the fact that he did an excellent job at Brentford over the past six years, which means he proved his durability. ##NAJAVA_MECA_8123793##
