Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag is sweating on his future as the club conducts an end-of-year review.
United had a very disappointing league season, although the season ended on a high with victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
However, Ten Hag's position remains seriously questionable and that is why Telegraaf Sport is looking at a number of potential candidates to replace him this summer.
After leaving Chelsea last week, he has blown open the race to succeed Erik ten Hag as he was not expected to appear on the market. He famously had lunch with Sir Alex Ferguson in 2016 when it looked like he would become United manager, but that never happened. But he has always been on the club's radar and is in a relationship with Sir Dave Brailsford of the new INEOS regime at Old Trafford.
Has a track record of developing young, homegrown talent since his time at Tottenham, when Harry Kane came through under his tutelage, with his team reaching the Champions League final and punching well above their weight.
Tuchel has left Bayern Munich now that the season is over and is thought to be very interested in the United job. The former Champions League-winning Chelsea manager has been on United's shortlists in the past and there is recognition among the new Old Trafford hierarchy that the 50-year-old is talented, tactically fluid, articulate, knowledgeable of the Premier League and a has a track record. record of winning.
But with the squad in need of a drastic overhaul and a new structure still being put in place, they would have to decide at this stage whether he was the right choice in terms of personality and character and there is still so much rebuilding to be done.
The England manager has his admirers at Ineos and has shown he can unite a disparate, disillusioned group of players with his work for the national team, even while managing the dressing room of a club with a plethora of different nationalities on a daily basis. and personalities are not quite the same. Southgate knows United's new sporting director Dan Ashworth well from their time together at the Football Association and Ineos sporting director Sir Dave Brailsford, and has the patience and level-headedness to work within and develop a structure.
However, there have already been indications that a Southgate appointment may not go down well with United fans, with questions surrounding the style of play and whether he could command credibility among the players at one of the biggest clubs. His experience of club management is also limited to three seasons at Middlesbrough, going back fifteen years.
The 39-year-old, Portugal's newest coaching talent, has just guided Sporting Lisbon to a second title in four seasons and is tipped for big things. After careful analysis, Liverpool chose to cool down interest in Amorim in favor of Feyenoord's Arne Slot. As with other candidates, there would be risks involved and questions about whether he can make the jump to a club under such an unforgiving spotlight.
Amorim, who also spoke to West Ham, tends to use an adaptable defender who may not lend himself well to the makeup of this United team without changes. He has shown to be very flexible in the game and plays an intense, pressing game without possession.
The 50-year-old Dane has worked wonders at Brentford on a relatively small scale since taking over as head coach in 2018 after a spell as assistant manager. Time and again he has proven that he can build teams, improve and develop players and be tactically astute and flexible.
He is highly regarded by his peers, is a good communicator and impressive in front of the camera, another attribute that is important at a club like United.
Pep Guardiola considers him one of the best managers in Europe and the Italian enjoyed a remarkable debut season at Brighton.
This season has proven to be more difficult, especially due to injuries to key players, but the quality of Brighton's build-up and possession play has meant the 44-year-old is often in the conversation when top jobs come up. United should be content that he had the temperament for the pressure cooker at Old Trafford.
The 48-year-old Madrid-born coach has been a revelation since taking over Girona in 2021 and led one of the success stories of the season by qualifying the club for the Champions League. For a long time they were even involved in a title race with Real Madrid.
Because Girona is part of the City Football Group, owned by Manchester City's paymasters in Abu Dhabi, Michel is well known to United's new CEO Omar Berrada, who will formally take up the job on July 13 after taking over City in left January. Michel, whose full name is Miguel Angel Sanchez Munoz, generally plays a possession game, but Girona have a direct and counter-attacking dimension to their game which has proven to be a handful for opponents.
Gained a growing reputation with his work in Ostersund in Sweden and subsequently in Swansea and Brighton, laying much of the foundation for De Zerbi. When Chelsea called in September 2022, the opportunity was too good to turn down, even if it was a poisoned chalice given the turbulence at the club under new owners and him gone after just seven months and 31 games.
Potter has not rushed back into management and is choosing his moment, waiting for the right job. Like Southgate, Potter is a calm individual and has shown he can work within a structure, but questions would arise, especially after the Chelsea experience, as to whether he has the status to take on such a big job at Old Trafford to take.
