Erik ten Hag is fighting to save his job at Manchester United but must now wait for the club’s executive team to hand out their decision after a meeting on Tuesday
Erik ten Hag’s fate will be decided on Tuesday when Manchester United’s hierarchy meet for crunch talks – with Thomas Tuchel the new favourite to succeed him.
Ten Hag’s job is on the line after United’s worst start to a season for more than half a century, with just eight points from seven games leaving them 14th in the Premier League. United co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, his right-hand man Sir Dave Brailsford, CEO Omar Berrada, sporting director Dan Ashworth and technical director Jason Wilcox will meet to decide if Ten Hag should stay or go.
They will be joined by majority shareholder Joel Glazer, who attended supporters’ group meeting with Ratcliffe at Old Trafford yesterday, with the pressure building on Ten Hag and Tuchel ready to take over.
Tuchel held talks with United in the summer, but was unable to reach any agreement with the hierarchy, who then decided to stick with Ten Hag and trigger his one-year contract extension.
Former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss Tuchel remains a free agent and is understood to be open to a return to management at Old Trafford, despite the breakdown of talks over the summer.
Although the executive meeting at United’s London offices is a scheduled monthly affair, Ten Hag’s future will be top of the agenda after such a poor start to the new campaign, which has already left the team six points off fourth spot.
United missed out on a Champions League place last season and have not failed to qualify for the tournament in successive years in the Premier League era. Failure to make Europe’s elite club competition would cost United around £50million, which is why they may decide to pull the plug on Ten Hag if they feel a top-four finish is beyond him this season.
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If the United hierarchy do decide to jettison Ten Hag, the club’s former striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, currently part of the first-team coaching staff, would be likely to take charge on an interim basis.
Ten Hag has been under huge pressure since the start of the season, after United decided to stick with him in the summer, despite meeting with potential replacements, including Tuchel. The 54-year-old United boss needed a positive start to his third campaign in charge, after last season’s eighth place finish, the club’s lowest of the Premier League era.
But United have won just two of their seven Premier League games this season and failed to score in their last three league outings. Ten Hag’s men have only managed five league goals in total this season – only Southampton have scored fewer in the top-flight.
United have also made a flat start to their Europa League campaign, drawing against FC Twente and Porto, to leave them 21st in the table – with only the top 24 qualifying for the knockout stage.
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