Erik ten Hag sacked: Gareth Southgate, Zinedine Zidane among top contenders for Manchester United job
After months and months of speculation, INEOS have finally decided to pull the plug on Erik ten Hag’s reign as Manchester United manager.
The club announced on Monday that the Dutchman had left the club, and Ruud van Nistelrooy will take charge of the team on an interim basis.
IOL Sport looks at who could be appointed by the club to be their next manager.
Gareth Southgate
Manchester United’s director of football Dan Ashworth loves Gareth Southgate. INEOS love Gareth Southgate. So, in the search of a new man, Southgate’s name will be near the top of the pile.
While working as the FA’s technical director, Ashworth was responsible in bringing Southgate into the fold. There’s no denying that the former Aston Villa and Middlesborough defender did well with the national team, who he guided to two European Championship titles, and a semi-final of a World Cup.
However, appointing a manager with a poor track record in the Premier League won’t go down well with the supporters.
Graham Potter
Before he was sacked by Chelsea, Graham Potter did a phenomenal job in turning Brighton and Hove Albion into a top Premier League club.
His style of football was attractive, and he was credited in finding some unknown talents and turning them into gems.
Like Southgate, Potter had a great working relationship with Ashworth, and was mentioned as a possible candidate when Ten Hag came under pressure towards the end of last season.
The blemish to Potter’s record, however, is his time at Chelsea, where the former European champions just couldn’t get things right, and were fighting at the wrong end of the Premier League table.
Zinedine Zidane
Everyone’s favourite for the job is mercurial French maestro Zinedine Zidane, who led Real Madrid to three consecutive Champions League titles in the back end of last decade.
Zidane previously ruled himself out of the job due to his poor grasp of the English language, and is said to be waiting for Didier Deschamps to leave his position as head coach of the French national team.
Xavi
According to reports, the Spanish and Barcelona legend is the favourite to be appointed in the post after he held numerous meetings with INEOS last week.
While his time in Barcelona was brief, he did show some promise, and could have led the Catalan giants back to the top of the Spanish table had it not been for the crippling financial crisis the club currently find themselves in.
Ruud van Nistelrooy
Ruud van Nistelrooy, the club’s former Dutch striker has been appointed as United’s interim manager after Erik ten Hag’s sacking.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was given the job on a full-time basis after impressing as interim manager, and Van Nistelrooy will be hoping to convince the club he can do the job.
As someone who was fan favourite, his appointment has been welcomed by the club’s fans, who have had a tough time since Sir Alex Ferguson left the job.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Ole’s at the wheel? Anyone?
Solskjaer is still unemployed after he was sacked by United. Last month, he made headlines when he said he would be open to returning to his beloved club should he get the call.
IOL Sport