Manchester United, Erik ten hag

According to The Telegraph, Manchester United owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is not happy with what he has seen of the club recently. Despite a strong FA Cup win against Liverpool, some very poor performances have been delivered in the Premier League.

Among other things, it will be about the league matches against Fulham and Brentford.

The Telegraph writes that Ratcliffe believes “the football being shown now is not sustainable in the long term”.

This again fuels speculation about the future of manager Erik ten Hag. The Dutchman has had to endure a lot of criticism this season and some believe that the big club should get rid of the manager after the current season.

At the same time as the pressure on ten Hag increases, concrete measures are being taken around the sporting structure at United.

Fjørtoft: – No doubt

In January, it was announced that the club had hired the highly respected Omar Berrada from city rivals Manchester City as their new chief executive. A short time later it also became known that the club’s owners want Dan Ashworth in the role of sporting director.

Now most things suggest that former Blackburn player Jason Wilcox will also get a role in the sporting apparatus. He is said to have resigned from his job at Southampton and is intended for the job as technical director at Manchester United, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

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Together with these people, Ineos executives Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Sir Dave Brailsford will shape the “United of the future”.

What many are now wondering is to what extent the new tops see ten Hag as the right man on the way forward.

Viaplay reporter Jan Åge Fjørtoft recently wrote on X that he sees a common thread in the ongoing hiring process and believes that whoever will lead United further must share the vision of the new “directors” who are rumored to be entering the gate at Old Trafford.

– There is no doubt that the manager of Manchester United next season will be someone who shares the philosophy of these men. That manager must be good at building “culture”. The manager in the 24/25 season will be a consequence of this, he writes.

– I believe that clubs should start with philosophy and then hire a manager, he elaborates later in the same X thread.

Fjørtoft does not decide whether that man is Erik ten Hag or not in his messages.

Bjarte Valen, a journalist in Manchester United’s Norwegian supporters’ club, believes for his part that the expected changes in the sporting apparatus do not exclusively mean that the 54-year-old Dutchman is nearing the end of his job as manager.

He simply does not think the manager question has been very central to Ratcliffe and his cronies for so long.

– The manager is not the most important

In the past, managers such as David Moyes, Louis van Gaal, José Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjær have been fired as soon as the club has fallen behind in the hunt for games in the Champions League, but Valen points out that the thinking is now probably a little different at the top.

– The new sporting management thinks a little differently. First of all, they have been very quick to identify those who will have key leadership roles. It is very clear that Ratcliffe is using the same strategy that he has used in his business empire. He builds from the top. A new managing director is ready, and it will probably take some time before the other pieces are in place, he tells Nettavisen.

– Is ten Hag the right man? I don’t think it’s a given whether there will be Champions League games next season. Should he take the team to the Champions League, it will be difficult to get rid of him, even if it doesn’t look like that now, says Valen.

Although both Ashworth and Wilcox have been heavily linked with jobs at United, they have not yet been formally employed.

– For now, they are working on building a new structure. I don’t think they see the manager as the most important person, says Valen.

He points out that ten Hag has done a very solid job in his previous clubs, then with a competent sporting apparatus around him. Therefore, he also believes that the 54-year-old can repeat this feat at United, if the club strengthens the apparatus around him.

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– Many automatically think that ten Hag is in trouble now, but a good example is what happened when he took over at Ajax. He then had skilled people around him in Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars and together the three did a formidable job.

The journalist also points out that ten Hag impressed both in Go Ahead Eagles, Bayern Munich (second team) and Utrecht.

– But if they have an evaluation and come to the conclusion that they are best served by someone else, then it will probably be merciless. Then there is no doubt that there will be a change, but it is not a given that they will come to that conclusion, believes the United.no journalist.

Connects with Southgate

England’s national team manager Gareth Southgate is among those who have been linked to the job of manager at Manchester United recently. Southgate has previously worked with both Ashworth and Brailsford in the FA.

In recent years, he has received a lot of praise for the work he has done with the national team. At club level, however, he can only point to a managerial job in Middlesbrough in the period between 2006 and 2009.

Valen has caught on to these rumors and understands that the speculation is coming.

– I understand the connection. They know him from his time in the FA. It is understandable that he is linked with United. But it is far from a “done deal” and a lot can change, he says of the man who leads England in this summer’s European Championship finals in Germany.

– It’s a bit interesting. Both Liverpool and United are in a situation now where there is speculation about a new manager, but they do not see the manager as the most important. Rather, they hire those who will hire the manager. They start at the top, he says.

– Most people struggle with it

Like many others, Valen still struggles to fully understand what United are doing under ten Hag right now.

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– Ten Hag is in charge and all the chances they miss against them are a huge problem. He cannot hide behind the fact that not all of these chances are great. In March alone, opponents had twice as many chances as United. Goes against what the club stands for.

– I think most people struggle to understand how United want to play, says Valen.

He is still not quite ready to give up ten Hag as manager of the club.

– Personally, I hope he gets a third year. Whether he gets to set his team and system, we’ll see. There is little doubt that he is a skilled manager.

– But for now, we can only conclude that Ineos is building the club from the top down.

He sees a radical change on the eve of the season as completely unthinkable.

– Then things must go completely wrong in the last few weeks. It does not make sense. Who on earth is free now, if they were to be looking for someone?