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Jamie Carragher believes Man Utd has already missed out on ideal new manager

tom malley
·2-min read
-Credit: (Image: X/Twitter - Sky Sports)
-Credit: (Image: X/Twitter - Sky Sports)


Jamie Carragher has called out Manchester United for not sacking Erik ten Hag and replacing him with Thomas Tuchel when the club had the chance.

The former Chelsea boss has since been appointed England boss despite holding talks with the Red Devils over the managerial position at Old Trafford, leaving the club with few suitable options to choose from as Ten Hag's replacement.

The Dutchman has been dismissed after more than two years in charge, having overseen his fourth defeat of the season in just nine games with Sunday's 2-1 loss to West Ham, leaving Man United 14th in the Premier League.

Gareth Southgate, Ruben Amorim and Xavi are just three candidates to become the sixth permanent manager in 11 years at Old Trafford, yet Carragher believes the club's owners, INEOS, have already missed the boat on the best candidate in Tuchel.

Reacting to Ten Hag's sacking on Sky Sports, the former Liverpool defender said: "One of the reasons I thought they may have kept Erik Ten Hag (over the summer) is because they knew there was a manager there who still wanted to have a little bit of a break over the summer and recharge his batteries.

"I actually thought that might be Thomas Tuchel, that Manchester United were lining him up similar to what Liverpool did with Jurgen Klopp.

"But then England came from nowhere, take Thomas Tuchel and now they change Erik ten Hag. I thought that might be something in the back of the minds of the owners when they decided to keep him in the summer because, for me, there was no way Erik ten Hag was ever going to last further than the November international break.

"It was impossible, it was never going to happen. They were always going to have to change their manager within three months of the start of the season. I go back to the ownership, they should have made this decision in the summer and saved themselves a lot of money."

Former Man United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has been placed in interim charge of the first-team squad while the owners look to appoint a new manager, yet the 48-year-old could put himself in the running with a string of good results.

Having spent a year in charge of PSV Eindhoven, the former Netherlands international has experience in the dugout and already knows the players well after acting as Ten Hag's assistant over the past three months.

Sporting CP manager Amorim, however, has emerged as one of the leading candidates for the role. Ironically, the Portuguese was linked with the Liverpool job before Arne Slot was chosen as Jurgen Klopp's successor.