Erik ten Hag is under the biggest pressure of his career. There were times last season when his coaching was questioned, but ultimately, the low ending of the season was ‘saved‘ by winning the FA Cup and beating their biggest rival (and four time consecutive Premier League) Manchester City in the process. This was the crucial point, but also the fact that there were no suitable candidates available which essentially kept Ten Hag in place. But now, after United experienced its worst Premier League start in history and United have taken just eight points from their opening seven matches (currently 14th on the table), there is a big and important meeting in London where the Dutchman‘s future will be discussed. The coach won‘t be present, as he was not invited (off course), but his answer to the pressure is quite interesting – he is on holiday.Erik, what’s the plan?As reported by ESPN, Ten Hag decided to use the international break and go to rest for a few days, since he is personally under great pressure. He obviously believes that the United brass won‘t sack him (now), but maybe he lives under a rock as he clearly haven‘t read what happened to Julian Nagelsmann. The current Germany coach was sacked by Bayern Munich in 2023 after a bad result (which was much less worrisome than United‘s situation now) while he was skiing. So maybe staying in England, at least while the meeting is over would be wize for Ten Hag, but that ship has sailed now and his fate will be decided without him. The members of United’s executive committee (ExCo for short) are meeting in London to discuss the latest developments at the club and plan for the future. The get-togethers are scheduled to take place each month, with September’s hosted in Barcelona around the America’s Cup, which INEOS Britannia are competing in. Co-owners Jim Ratcliffe and Joel Glazer will be in attendance as well as Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean Claude-Blanc, the two INEOS representatives in the United hierarchy, chief executive Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth, technical director Jason Wilcox, as well as chief financial officer Roger Bell and chief operating officer Collette Roche.Football legend hits hard: “United spends a fortune on nothing more than decent players”Ten Hag will obviously be the main topic. Ruud van Nistelrooy has been touted as a possible replacement on an interim basis if the meeting ends up with a decision to sack the Dutchman. Thomas Tuchel’s availability may be a point of discussion, but no approach has been made, and Gareth Southgate is not England’s coach anymore, so he is available.“I like Erik, I think he’s a very good coach but, at the end of the day, it’s not my call. It’s the management team that’s running Manchester United that have to decide how we best run the team in many different respects” said Ratcliffe just a few days ago. Ten Hag has 21 months remaining on his extended United deal and his sacking will cost United a substantial sum. He earns 9 million pounds a year, a sum trimmed by the club’s failure to qualify for the Champions League this season. The details of any severance package that would be owed to Ten Hag are not known but it is safe to assume a change of manager would cost an eight-figure sum, potentially as much as 16 million and far higher than if he had departed in May 2024.##NAJAVA_MECA_8398493##
