What has gone wrong at Man Utd?
Manchester United may regret ignoring Sir Alex Ferguson’s preferred candidate to replace Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2021 if Erik ten Hag’s reign continues to crumble. Sir Alex reportedly pushed for the club to look at the other leading candidate in what seemed like a two-horse race to become Solskjaer’s successor.
Solskjaer was United’s fourth permanent manager since Sir Alex’s 2013 retirement sent shockwaves through Old Trafford that caused damage yet to be fixed.
He was dismissed in November 2021 after a 4-1 defeat at Watford, commencing the search for his replacement in what felt like one of the most important appointments in the club’s history.
Ralf Rangnick inherited the interim mantle for the remainder of the season. But he failed to steady the ship, intensifying the widespread desperation for United to get their next permanent appointment right.
After a prolonged process, it became clear that United had landed on Ten Hag as their preferred candidate on the back of relentless success at Ajax.
But Sir Alex reportedly favoured his primary rival in the running to enter the Old Trafford dugout, Mauricio Pochettino.
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According to talkSPORT in November 2021, Pochettino was desperate to leave Paris Saint-Germain, and United believed they could lure him away from the French capital in the summer of 2022.
The Argentine was said to be eager to return to the Premier League as his wife and children remained in London while he took charge of PSG.
And the report claimed that Sir Alex was leading the charge for Pochettino to finally arrive at United, following years of links.
Pochettino remained at PSG until the end of the season, though, winning the 2021/22 Ligue 1 title.
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However, a couple of months after United announced that Ten Hag was to become the new manager in April, Pochettino left PSG by mutual consent.
The plan likely involved the former Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur boss to join United in that summer before Ten Hag convinced the club of his vision.
Pochettino was out of work last season before being appointed Chelsea head coach in the summer, taking on a daunting job after the Blues’ disastrous 2022/23 campaign.
He has endured a turbulent start to life at Stamford Bridge, and if Ten Hag’s struggles extend much further, the prospect of Pochettino to United could very easily enter the limelight again down the line.
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