Following Manchester United’s disheartening defeat to local rivals Manchester City, the pressure on manager Erik ten Hag has surged, and several notable figures are being considered as potential replacements.
After a convincing 3-0 victory by Manchester City, featuring a brace from Erling Haaland and a goal from Phil Foden, Ten Hag’s tenure at Old Trafford is under scrutiny. In light of this, there is growing speculation about his future as the head of Manchester United.
According to Odds Checker (correct at the time of writing), Zinedine Zidane, the former manager of Real Madrid and a three-time consecutive Champions League winner during his tenure, is the leading candidate to replace Ten Hag, with odds of 4/1.
Julian Nagelsmann, the former Bayern Munich manager who currently serves as the manager of the German national team, is the second favorite at 5/1. Another contender is Graham Potter, the former manager of Chelsea and Brighton, with odds of 10/1.
In addition to these candidates, the list of potential replacements includes notable names like Antonio Conte (16/1), Gareth Southgate (16/1), Diego Simeone (20/1), and Mauricio Pochettino (20/1).
As of now, Manchester United finds itself in eighth place in the Premier League, trailing fourth-placed Liverpool by eight points and leaders Tottenham Hotspur by 11 points. Despite the speculation surrounding his future, Ten Hag remains optimistic about the team’s progress.
He stated, “The three games before we won, and the spirit is very good, so I think we are on the way up. The start was difficult but we are on the way up. I am sure when we have some injured players coming back, then our side will be stronger. We have to be patient.”
Ten Hag added, “When you see the first half, it is toe-to-toe, and just the penalty changes the game, but even then we could have returned in the game with the shot of Scott McTominay just before half-time.
For chances, it was very toe-to-toe, and also in the previous games against them in the FA Cup final and January, it was very close. So the probability that we could win was there in all the games.”