The Danish coach is admired by Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Sir Dave Brailsford. But does he have what it takes to succeed at Old Trafford?
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 his fellow United executives are clearly reluctant to sack Ten Hag just four months after concluding that he was the best man for the job despite speaking to numerous managers about replacing him in the summer. Pulling the trigger now would be an admission that they had made the wrong call 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 more costly if it means failing to finish in the top four and missing out on Champions League football for the second consecutive season.
Getty ImagesOut of reach
United’s reluctance to own up to their mistake has already cost them not one but two potential successors if (more likely when) they decide to dispense with Ten Hag. Mauricio Pochettino is now the coach of the United States, while Thomas Tuchel is also now out of reach after agreeing to become England manager.
Pochettino was Ten Hag’s biggest rival for the United job in 2022 and the Argentine was considered when the Dutchman’s position was at risk late last season, although the terms of his contract with Chelsea complicated matters as any Premier League club looking to hire him within six months of leaving Stamford Bridge was obliged to pay the Blues £5m ($6.5m) in compensation.
Pochettino may have had a topsy-turvy season in west London but he turned things around by the end of the campaign, winning Chelsea’s last five games to finish sixth. The Argentine, who has a recognisable style of play and is loved by players and Tottenham fans alike, felt like a great fit for United but is unlikely to ever coach them now.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesTuchel ship sails away
Nor is Tuchel, who met Ratcliffe in May and even discussed financial terms but failed to see eye to eye with United's minority shareholder. Nonetheless, he remained a tempting fall back option in the event that Ten Hag’s third season unravelled, as it has done so already.
Tuchel made a remarkable improvement at Chelsea when he took over in the middle of the 2020-21 season, inheriting a demotivated collection of individuals that had failed to click under Frank Lampard and were ninth in the Premier League at the time. He inspired them to finish fourth, reach the FA Cup final and of course to win the Champions League, beating Pep Guardiola with a tactical masterclass.
He had an impeccable record in knockout competitions, reaching four finals out of five with Chelsea, while winning Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain and the Bundesliga with Bayern Munich. But now that ship has sailed, with Tuchel signing his England contract on the same day that Ratcliffe, Joel Glazer and United's other executives held a board meeting in London and discussed Ten Hags future.
If a lack of exciting alternatives was the real motive behind sticking with Ten Hag in the summer, then there are even fewer options available to them now.
GettyEnviable 'Big Six' record
But there is one candidate who United also spoke with in the close season who remains available. And he will be coming up against Ten Hag at Old Trafford on Saturday. Thomas Frank has always seemed like an outside candidate for the United job but it is not hard to see why he has been in the wider conversation whenever there has been doubt about Ten Hag.
After all, it was the Dane who dealt Ten Hag one of the greatest humiliations of his career when Brentford battered United 4-0 in August 2022 in the Dutchman’s second game in charge. The Bees also outplayed the Red Devils last season at the G-tech Community Stadium, even if they only snatched a 1-1 draw with a last-gasp equaliser.
Frank’s record with Brentford might not necessarily make him an A-list candidate, with the Bees finishing 13th, ninth and 16th in the Premier League in the last three seasons. His results against the top sides, however, are highly impressive.
In 12 matches against the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’ clubs in 2022-23, Brentford accrued 21 points. His side did the double over champions Manchester City that same season and remain the last team in any competition to beat Pep Guardiola’s side at the Etihad Stadium, back in November 2022.
GOAL/Getty'One of the best'
Brentford gave City a real fright when they met earlier this season, scoring in the opening minute before eventually losing 2-1 after missing a hatful of chances. And Guardiola could not help but doff his cap to Frank.
“I don’t remember in eight, nine years a team that played like Brentford in the first 30 minutes. We were not our best and they deserved to be 0-2. Every time they had the ball they created a chance," he said. "An extraordinary team, we have suffered since they were promoted, all the games against Thomas have been difficult."
Guardiola added that he had a "huge list" of reasons why Brentford were so tough to play against. "They are good in high pressing, second ball. Defend deep, so compact. High pressing, they play short passes. Set pieces, every corner is a headache. Every throw in, every free kick. Every department, all the things they do. It’s the manager they have. Thomas is one of the best."
And that begged the question: why is Frank still at Brentford? Guardiola smiled. "It's a question of time, he will get a good club. I'm good at a few things, one of which is reading when the manager is good. It is going to happen."
Guardiola is far from Frank’s only admirer among the upper echelons of Premier League management. Jurgen Klopp said Brentford and Frank "show even with less money you can create something really special". Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, hailed the Bees as "one of the best run clubs in the league".