Speaking after Manchester United‘s dismal 3-0 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday evening, Erik ten Hag was confident he’d stay in the job. He was pretty confident after the FA Cup win a few months back too.
That’s rather ominous and worrying for fans, don’t you think? Talking to the media, the Dutchman said: “I’m not thinking about being sacked, not at all. We all made the decision to stay together We knew it would take some time. We are on the same page together.”
On the same page they might be, but the playing squad certainly isn’t. It hasn’t been for much of Ten Hag’s tenure truth be told.
The hierarchy at United may have a sounder structure to it now but all is now well on the playing field. Talisman Bruno Fernandes was given the first red card of his career just to sum up their woes.
Now sitting in 12th place, there are few signs that it will get better quickly. So, what’s the plan? Where do the Red Devils go from here? It’s the million-dollar question. Change simply has to be made in the dugout irrespective of the decision made by INEOS over the summer.
Potential Erik ten Hag replacements
Before Ten Hag agreed a new deal with United after the FA Cup success, it was thought that they were looking to onboard Thomas Tuchel.
He was set to leave Bayern Munich and as a result, would be able to be snapped away without any compensation fees. It was the perfect remedy. So they thought anyway.
Tuchel was indeed replaced at Bayern but he is still out of work after allegedly taking no interest in the position at Old Trafford.
Heading back to the German now is unrealistic, but could a certain Zinedine Zidane arrive? The Frenchman seems to get linked every time the managerial position is discussed at United and his name emerged again earlier this month.
Reports from Spain suggested that ‘Ratcliffe dreams of seeing Zidane as the next coach’ with the idea of seeing the iconic Real Madrid hero in the Premier League now ‘gaining strength.’
The former midfielder has been out of work since leaving the Bernabeu behind back in 2021.
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Why Zidane is needed at Man Utd
This would be quite the story if the 52-year-old arrived to replace Ten Hag, not just because he’s one of the most successful coaches of the last decade but because, once upon a time, he could have been strutting his stuff in United red.
The great Sir Alex Ferguson wanted him at Old Trafford, famously quoted as once saying: “Give me ten planks of wood and Zidane and I will win the Champions League.”
So, there is a long-standing admiration for the iconic World Cup winner, not just in a playing capacity but now as a coach.
The only negative we can really think of is that he’s been out of the game for the last three years. That said, this is a man who bleeds success.
Zizou won the Serie A twice as a player, he won La Liga once and he also took home a Champions League trophy. For his country, he won the Euros and the 1998 World Cup before he bowed away from the international stage with that infamous head butt.
Since then, he’s become quite the manager, winning three straight Champions Leagues, two La Ligas and two Club World Cups. He commands respect, he has immense aura and he’s a winner, everything Ten Hag sadly doesn’t boast.
As a player, he won just one league championship and to his credit, he did win the Eredivisie three times with Ajax. The Dutchman has even won two cups with United but the chaos that has ensued with him at the helm has made that success a distant memory.
So, from a stylistic point of view, what would be different about this team with Zidane in charge? Well, we’ll let the man himself do the talking for a second. “I want my team to play, spread the ball, build from the back and keep possession,” he once said.
Operating with a classic 4-3-3 system that was made so successful by the dominant trio of Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, perhaps much wouldn’t change in possession from a formation point of view.
|
Zidane’s managerial record |
|
|---|---|
|
Matches |
301 |
|
Wins |
190 |
|
Draws |
83 |
|
Defeats |
48 |
|
Goals scored |
657 |
|
Goals conceded |
310 |
|
Points |
633 |
|
Points per match |
2.10 |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt. |
|
Yet, with regard to structure and organisation, there would surely be huge improvements. After all, he’s already proven he can dig Madrid out of a hole.
During Zidane’s first season in charge, there was a period of time between February 2017 and April 2017 when his men fell behind in seven out of 12 games. They did win six of those matches but it was chaos, the type of thing we’ve seen at United in recent years.
Unlike Ten Hag, he was able to arrest that slump. The year of 2020 showed how. After the lockdown for the Covid pandemic, Madrid won ten in a row, conceding just two goals in the first eight of those matches. Control. It was all about control. Madrid had it. United certainly don’t.
They have conceded eight times in six league matches and last term, shipped 58 goals, leaving oceans of space in the middle of the pitch for opposing teams to capitalise on. That wouldn’t be the case under Zidane.
Previously hailed as a “genius” by pundit Steve McManaman, this would be an appointment that appeases fans. It might not guarantee immediate success but you can bet he’d bring better principles than Ten Hag has.
