Man Utd’s Missed Opportunities: Tuchel, Pochettino Slip Away

This week, Manchester United finally took a long-awaited decision on their manager. But it wasn’t the one most people were expecting. While Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sir Alex Ferguson his 11-year role as club ambassador will be coming to an end next June, the minority shareholder has left Erik ten Hag in place.

Although many fans were calling for United to sack the Dutchman after the team made their worst ever start to a Premier League season, he has survived the October international break and will be in charge to face Brentford on Saturday. And with United’s fixtures coming thick and fast, there is limited opportunity to make a change before the next international break in November.

Ratcliffe and the other United executives would be exceedingly reluctant to axe Ten Hag only four months after deciding he was the best man for the job despite speaking to several other managers about the summer vacancy. Pulling the trigger now would be an admission that they had called it wrong then and would also cost the club in the region of £17m ($22m) – and that’s before they had named a replacement – when it would have cost around £10m ($13m) in June.

But with United in the state they are, looking as weak if not weaker than last season, not making a change could prove even costlier if only for failing to finish in the top four and missing out on Champions League football for the second consecutive season.