Should Man Utd Appoint Pochettino Or Erik Ten Hag?

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Published by Chris Jenkins
14th Apr 2022
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Manchester United has been having a run of disappointing results consistently throughout the 2021/22 season. After starting the season with a promising result finishing Leeds United 5-1, the football club has been struggling since as a result. It has also seen the supervision of three managers in the season alone.

After a run full of struggle under the football club’s legend and former player, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, another club legend Michael Carrick was appointed to serve as an interim manager after his departure. He managed the team from 22nd November 2021 to 2nd December 2021 before the appointment of another interim manager, Ralf Rangnick. There is a possibility of a new name joining the Man Utd managers ranks soon.

Following Ralf Ragnick, the fans' expectations rose so much, but it hasn’t been met. After a disappointing run from the German manager, the football club has been considering different options to help restore Manchester United's glory as the manager. Erik Ten Hag and Potchettino are on the list and could be the next Man Utd manager.

 

Pochettino

Roberto Mauricio Pochettino is an Argentine football manager and a former player in his second season in charge of PSG. As a central defender, Pochettino started his professional career with Newell's Old Boys of the Primera División in 1989, where he won the league championship.

He joined Paris Saint-Germain in 2001. He then spent time with Bordeaux and rejoined Espanyol, where he won his second Copa del Rey in 2006. He also has 20 caps for the national team of Argentina and has represented the country at the Copa América in 1999 and the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

Pochettino started his career as a manager at Espanyol in 2009, where he had previously played as a player. His departure from the club occurred in 2012 due to bad performance and financial issues. The following year, he was recruited as manager of Premier League team Southampton, where he guided the club to finish in eighth place in the 2013–14 season, which was also their best result in the Premier League.

After that, he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 2014, where he helped the club to a second-place finish in the Premier League in 2016–17 and a Champions League final appearance in 2019. Soon later, he was fired from the team following a series of bad performances, and in 2021, he became the head coach of Paris Saint-Germain.

 

Erik Ten Hag

Erik Ten Hag retired from being a football player in 2002 when he was 32 years old. Erik is a former Dutch player and now serves as the manager of Ajax. Ten Hag spent most of his career as a centre-back for clubs such as FC Utrecht RKC, Waalwijk, De Graafschap, and FC Twente. Erik Ten Hag spent three seasons with FC Twente, where he won the KNVB Cup.

Ten Hag was hired by the Go Ahead Eagles of the Eerste Divisie as their manager in 2012. He was appointed by Marc Overmars (a stakeholder in the club)'s recommendation. Erik happens to be an instrumental part of his team's success during his only season with the Go Ahead Eagles. His contribution earned the club its first promotion in 17 years. He served as the head coach of Bayern Munich II from June 6, 2013, until his replacement by Heiko Vogel in 2015.

Ten Hag subsequently moved on to become the manager of FC Utrecht in 2015, where he guided the team to the fifth position in his first season in charge. In the 2016–17 season, he increased FC Utrecht's final position from fifth to fourth, earning the team a spot in the Europa League qualifying round.

His appointment as the manager of Ajax came about as a result of the club's dismissal of Marcel Keizer. In 2019, he guided his team to the Champions League semi-finals. It happened to be the club's first time since 1997. It was achieved as he led his team to defeat the reigning champions, Real Madrid, 4–1 in an away match in the round of 16. He also led Ajax to defeat Juventus 1–2 at the Turin Stadium in Italy, in the quarterfinals, after drawing the first leg 1–1 at home.

His Ajax team won over Mauricio Potchettino's Tottenham team in the semi-final, where he guided his club to a 1–0 victory. But in the second leg, Tottenham Hotspur beat his team 3–2. So Tottenham qualified for the finals on away goals.

 

Pochettino Versus Erik Ten Hag

As the current manager of Manchester United, Ralf Ragnick has exhausted a more significant part of his six-month temporary managerial contract. There is a need to make a move for the permanent option.

Erik Ten Hag, Mauricio Potchettino, Thomas Tuchel, and many other names have been mentioned as contenders on the list. Even though the Chelsea manager has stated that he has no intention of accepting the position. Here, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of choosing between Potchettino and Erik Ten Hag.

How Manchester United has played over the previous years has shown some indiscipline in positioning. It is very different from how top-notch managers like Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp, and Thomas Tuchel have managed their teams, and Pochettino is the right manager to keep up.

As a follower of Marcelo Bielsa, Mauricio Pochettino is very demanding and meticulous with his players. He tells them precisely their positioning and how to move in their position, and he makes sure the whole team works together while with the ball and when otherwise. He is known for team building, which was seen in his time in Tottenham.

Considering their experience in the Premier League, Pochettino is the better option since he had some amazing in the English league with excellent results. If the judgment is based on experience, Pochettino is the man since he already has experience in nothing less than three top European leagues and played in the Champions League final.

Erik Ten Hag is an expert in making the best out of young teams. The Ajax team of 2019 is a perfect example of this. He brought out the best in Frenkie De Jong, De Ligt, Hakim Ziyech, Donnie Van De Beek, and so on. He has also been with Pep Guardiola as the Bayern Munich II coach. He will get a lower compensation fee than Pochettino; however, he could become United’s new manager with the unfolding events.