Erik ten Hag’s first year at Manchester United saw his side win the EFL Cup against Newcastle, becoming the first trophy the club had won since 2017. The rest of the season included plenty more positives as they finished third in the league, made it to the quarter-finals of the Europa League and final of the FA Cup, where they were beaten by rivals Manchester City.
These successes in his first season saw hopes rise prior to his second campaign in charge of the Red Devils, but it has not quite gone to plan for ten Hag this time around.
Manchester United have struggled to find any consistency this season and currently find themselves sixth in the table, 11 points behind Aston Villa in fourth and just six points above 10th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers. They also have by far the worst goal difference of any side in the top six with -2 while the second worst is Tottenham with +16. This is due to United having scored the least goals of any side in the top half of the table with 13th-placed Bournemouth the next highest side to have scored fewer goals than Man United’s 37.
With 11 games left of the season, ten Hag is also in danger of leading the Red Devils to the most losses they have ever recorded in a English Premier League season as they have already lost 11 this season, with 12 losses being their highest in both 2013/14 and 2021/22.
All of this has seen the pressure mount on ten Hag and many reports have been suggesting that Manchester United will look to replace the Dutch manager at the end of the season, with new minority owners INEOS reportedly looking at options to take charge.
With these reports, we have taken a look across the footballing world and picked out three options who we believe could replace Erik ten Hag at Manchester United:
Zinedine Zidane
The former Real Madrid manager has been continuously linked with the Manchester United job over the past years, and this could be the perfect time for Zidane to get back into management after being without a club since 2021.
Zidane may not have a long history of management but he certainly achieved plenty of success in his few years at Real Madrid. In his first three seasons at the club, Zidane guided his side to three successive UEFA Champions League victories and this could prove extremely helpful in taking Manchester United back to competing in and winning the biggest trophies.
Julian Nagelsmann
Julian Nagelsmann is another option to take on the United hotseat and provides a very different skill set to other options. Nagelsmann has been linked with some of Europe’s biggest clubs after his shock sacking from Bayern Munich in 2023, with Chelsea and Tottenham being some of the most notable sides to be linked with his signature.
Despite being just 36, Nagelsmann has already built a reputation for his advanced tactical expertise with a focus on possession football and high pressing. These methods proved very successful for Nagelsmann as he led RB Leipzig to a Champions League semi-final and Bayern Munich to a title victory in his first season before ultimately being sacked in March of his second season even with a 71% win percentage.
Roberto De Zerbi
Roberto De Zerbi is the final option we have picked out to take on the Manchester United job, with the Italian impressing in his time at Brighton & Hove Albion.
De Zerbi had the hard task of taking over the Brighton job from the departing Graham Potter, who had seen Brighton rise up the Premier League table, but De Zerbi has led Brighton to even higher heights.
A record-high Premier League finish for Brighton last season saw the Seagulls qualify for the Europa League and they find themselves in the running for European qualification once again this season as they sit in ninth place.
De Zerbi’s impressive possession tactics could be a welcomed change to the current Manchester United approach and would see De Zerbi finally able to manage at one of the biggest sides in the world after learning his trade at a host of smaller clubs.
Comment below with who you want to be the next Man Utd manager!