Rumors Swirl Regarding Manchester United's Future Manager
Scenes from United's 1-4 loss to Manchester City this past weekend. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)Following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Manchester United appointed Ralf Rangnick as interim manager until the end of the season, at which point he will either become the full time manager or step into a consultancy role for 2 years. So will Ralf be given the role of full time manager, or will they bring in someone new, and if they do make an outside hire, who might it be?
Ralf Rangnick
Ralf has performed admirably in my eyes since taking over as manager, as he took over a squad that was performing terribly and was riddled with injuries to key players such as Paul Pogba, Raphael Varane, and Edison Cavani. In the time since his appointment, United have moved up in the league table and are coming home for a second leg of a Champions League Round of 16 draw against Atletico Madrid after drawing the first leg. The performances under Rangnick have been much better than they were towards the end of Ole’s tenure, even if that’s a low bar, and he has given the opportunity to promising youngster Anthony Elanga to cement a place for himself in the first XI. However, United’s performances have been far from perfect, perhaps none worse than the one put on display during a 1-4 derby drubbing at the hands of Manchester City. Not only has there been inconsistent performances across matches, but performances within matches have been wildly inconsistent as well, again evidenced by the terrible second half performance by United against City after putting on a decent first half display. Manchester United are currently on the outside looking in of the top 4, and it will be difficult to unseat Arsenal from that coveted 4th spot. It seems unlikely to me that Rangnick will be appointed full time manager, and in all honesty, I’m not completely sure how I feel about him. While I appreciate his straightforward communication style and I think United’s performances under him have improved, I am still intrigued by United making an outside hire in an attempt to find our own Tuchel, Klopp, or Guardiola.
Erik Ten Hag (photo via Sky Sports)Erik Ten Hag
One of the names that has been floated around in connection with Manchester United is Erik Ten Hag, the current manager of Ajax. He has won the league twice with them, and famously took them to the semi-finals of the Champions League Semifinals where they were heartbreakingly close to reaching the final. While the Eredivisie is obviously not on the level of the Premier League, Ten Hag has still gotten rave reviews for his tenure at Ajax, which is not a surprise considering he has won nearly 75% of matches he’s managed Ajax in. Fans love him because of the attacking style of football his teams play, and I have to admit, Ten hag is probably the person I would most like to see manage Manchester United next season. Whether the hype around him is justified or whether he would crash and burn on such a big stage like United, only time will tell.
Mauricio Pochettino
Pochettino, the current manager of PSG, is someone United fans will know well, as he had many good years at Tottenham where he took them to a Champions League Final and finished 2nd in the league in 2017. He has not found the same kind of success since moving to PSG, as he failed to win Ligue 1 last year, which is almost a prerequisite for PSG managers normally, and was knocked out of the Champions League in the semi-finals against Manchester City. PSG are comfortably in first place in the league this year, and play tomorrow in the Champions League against Real Madrid after defeating them 1-0 in the first leg of the tie. It still remains to be seen if Pochettino can win on the biggest stages at the biggest clubs, something he will need to prove if he is to potentially please Manchester United’s demanding supporters.