Next permanent manager | Poll updated

Who should be the next permanent manager?

  • Luis Enrique

    Votes: 113 7.4%
  • Erik ten Hag

    Votes: 1,300 84.7%
  • Julen Lopetegui

    Votes: 10 0.7%
  • Mauricio Pochettino

    Votes: 79 5.1%
  • None of the above

    Votes: 32 2.1%

  • Total voters
    1,534
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Any Scottish managers out there?

Seems you have to be Scottish to be a great manager at Utd.

Failing that, Brendan Rodgers.
 
True. Even with that being the case though, we shouldn't be losing the games we've lost this season. We've even been very fortunate in some of the games we've won - things aren't clicking on a very basic level this season.
Oh yeah there's no denying that. I'm pretty much done with Ole, and Zidane is almost certainly a better manager, I'm just arguing that we need a big upgrade for our next manger not a minor one.
 
Michael Edwards at Liverpool wouldn't have counted as a proper structure by some fans but he did a fantastic job which greatly aided Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool who won both the League and CL.

From what's in the public domain, United do now have people in various divisions which head the recruitment department. And one of those divisions is the analytics department which is headed by Mick Court who is a Sports Scientist and has a team working under him who do the number crunching as far as statistical analysis goes.

I honestly believe we now have the structural support to bring in a head coach like Ten Hag or Potter. And even though I do admire Conte, I personally don't feel he's the right fit and we'd end up wasting a ton of money in the transfer market to appease him. He also comes across as quite temperamental and is known to threaten to quit his job if his demands are not met like we've seen at his previous clubs. I'm also of the opinion that the footballing ideology of a coach like Ten Hag or even Potter is more exciting imo and would have a potentially greater effect when it comes to creating a identity at the club from a coaching perspective. Ten Hag has also shown to be better than Conte in the CL whilst coaching a team with less resources and instilling a more exciting brand of football imo . And he's also achieved that by bringing through the youth.

These are excellent points. I think Ten Haag and Potter are good recommendations. Both implement a clear ideology in their teams. To some extent I feel this has always been Solskjaer intention but maybe he doesn't have the pedigree in conviction to get the team to move further with his ideas. Zidane and Conte I'd consider to be more established for the correspondence of winning titles. Considering Ten Haag was also strongly linked with Bayern I think it goes to show the success of his attacking philosophy. I seldom see Brighton outplayed by the opposition even when losing. I actually think it's a risk worth taking with Potter who also knows the league.

Fundamentally this is all in Ole's hands but three loses out of four is never a good sign especially with more difficult fixtures coming up.
 
I don't know if we can provide a full answer, but there are 2 articles you may be interested to read for hints of answers.

Zinedine Zidane and his philosophy (There is a reference to what he learned from Lippi at Juventus).

What is Zinedine Zidane's football tactic and philosophy, and will it suit Manchester United if he replaces Jose Mourinho? (From Quora; that was BEFORE Ole even came in and then signed players).
Seems like a lot are saying he’s similar to mourinho in playing style but not as rigid. The question would be, did he win things with Madrid through tactics or just be his players individual skill. I’m not sure. Solksjaer just let’s his players play and doesn’t care what position they go in as you can tell when our defence is all over the place. I think zidane let’s his players play there own game aswell with no real detail into positioning and stuff. I think we need a much more tactical manger who can get playing good football consistent and work the team on patterns of play and pressing.
 
I seriously hope not.

That PSG side have been playing shit on a stick football whenever I've watched them lately and they've got even better individuals in attack than we do.
I think it’s destined to happen to be honest, but it all depends on how bad the fallout is from him getting sacked at PSG. I’m just hoping that this is a big learning curve for him where he’s making all the mistakes he’s going to make and when he inevitable becomes our manager he’ll be better at handling the expectation and squad.
 
If people are seriously suggesting Potter take the job we might as well have stuck with Moyes or just keep Ole, in fact, they’re both lesser gambles than someone who was a literal PE teacher a few years ago.
 
Our next coach should be somebody on the up, not somebody who has peaked elsewhere and we're trying to replicate that success, like we did with Mourinho and Van Gaal, instead of ushering in a new era like we did with Fergie.
Look at the difference Nagelsmann has already made at Munich or Tuchel at Chelsea - if we axe Ole then our board is likely to appoint either Nicky Butt or Carlo Ancellotti.
Genuinely curious, what difference has Nagelsman made at Bayern?
 
The more I think about it the more o think Conte is not the right fit. He’d want an overhaul of players and probably wipe out some of the progress that we’ve done when he leaves (and he will)
Yeah I don’t think I could stand that again to be honest. Complete reset, get rid of a load of players so we can get players that fit a 5-3-2 formation instead, only to be sacked in 3 seasons after he doesn’t get £150m in the summer window. Not worth it.
 
We don't have a midfield 3 comparable to Modric, Kroos and Casemiro though. And that's the key area of the team.

This all day. Why talk about changing the manager when the obvious glaring problem is there for all to see in our defensive midfield. Unless you think Ole is responsible for not fixing it. But the VDB nonsense suggests that Ole is not actually in charge of recruitment.
 
This all day. Why talk about changing the manager when the obvious glaring problem is there for all to see in our defensive midfield. Unless you think Ole is responsible for not fixing it. But the VDB nonsense suggests that Ole is not actually in charge of recruitment.
We won leagues under Fergie with no midfield for years. Liverpool won the league with Hederson and Milner in there…
 
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These are excellent points. I think Ten Haag and Potter are good recommendations. Both implement a clear ideology in their teams. To some extent I feel this has always been Solskjaer intention but maybe he doesn't have the pedigree in conviction to get the team to move further with his ideas. Zidane and Conte I'd consider to be more established for the correspondence of winning titles. Considering Ten Haag was also strongly linked with Bayern I think it goes to show the success of his attacking philosophy. I seldom see Brighton outplayed by the opposition even when losing. I actually think it's a risk worth taking with Potter who also knows the league.

Fundamentally this is all in Ole's hands but three loses out of four is never a good sign especially with more difficult fixtures coming up.
I agree and also feel Solskjaer wants to implement something similar at United but the difference is that Solskjaer isn't a coach on the training ground and leaves the coaching to others which I personally aren't really convinced with. I'm a firm believer that the manager/head coach must take the lead on the training ground which Solskjaer doesn't do.
 
Klopp, Pep and Zidane weren't born winners they were once novices, big risks and had to start somewhere. My first choice would be Ten Haag but I think Potter is in a position where Pochettino was at Southampton: managing a small club but with a coherent style that can be translated to a bigger stage, maybe United is too far a step but the ingredients are there on both sides - he has a style that he is capable of executing and we have a team full of stars lacking coherence and direction.

It now depends on whether he has the leadership and communication skills to get through to superstars and whether they will listen to him but I don't think it's as outlandish as some make it out to be. There is always a risk with every managerial appointment.
Pep and Zidane only coached a top club because of affiliation. Klopp went to Liverpool after Dortmund, where he won the league and cup there. Potter has potential but he still needs to take an extra step before coming to a top club in the pl
 
This all day. Why talk about changing the manager when the obvious glaring problem is there for all to see in our defensive midfield. Unless you think Ole is responsible for not fixing it. But the VDB nonsense suggests that Ole is not actually in charge of recruitment.
It has been said countless of times by Ole himself, other staffs of the clubs and tier one journalists that Ole has an important role in recruitment
 
This all day. Why talk about changing the manager when the obvious glaring problem is there for all to see in our defensive midfield. Unless you think Ole is responsible for not fixing it. But the VDB nonsense suggests that Ole is not actually in charge of recruitment.
If you think a DM will make us have better team play consistently, you are totally delusional. I'm willing to bet money that a DM will change feck all in terms of how effective our gameplan is.
 
If people are seriously suggesting Potter take the job we might as well have stuck with Moyes or just keep Ole, in fact, they’re both lesser gambles than someone who was a literal PE teacher a few years ago.
His style is very different to both Moyes and Ole. Although I think all three of them share a lack of status to perhaps demand full respect from some players.
 
Pep and Zidane only coached a top club because of affiliation. Klopp went to Liverpool after Dortmund, where he won the league and cup there. Potter has potential but he still needs to take an extra step before coming to a top club in the pl
Good but what top level experience did Ole have? He was an improvement on the previous incumbents who had tons of experience. I can see the value but I also feel we over value it.
 
Not good for Cardiff imagine for United

He says always the same things “we created big chances”

 
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Ten Hag is probably the best bet in that he's at a point in his career where he was/is being linked to top sides like Bayern & Barca, has experience in Europe getting an Ajax side on limited resources to a CL semi-final, brings the more modern detail-orientated approach we're crying out for and plays lovely attacking football:

It’s all about patterns, and we train these. We want to offer certainties to the players. Patterns they can fall back on. And we can add more and more and become ever so flexible in how we play. We call it “automatisms”, patterns that allow players to think and act really quickly. It’s like improv in theatre. You can only improvise if you know the script by heart… And in our case, Ajax is all about attacking, playing dominant and attractive.

What's not to like?

I don't for a second think the club would opt for someone like Ten Hag over someone like Zidane though. The big name would win out.
 
Right now there’s only one decent candidate and that’s Zidane. The question is does he even speak English? Its all moot anyway because Ole will get at least the rest of the season.
 
Ten Hag is probably the best bet in that he's at a point in his career where he was/is being linked to top sides like Bayern & Barca, has experience in Europe getting an Ajax side on limited resources to a CL semi-final, brings the more modern detail-orientated approach we're crying out for and plays lovely attacking football:



What's not to like?

I don't for a second think the club would opt for someone like Ten Hag over someone like Zidane though. The big name would win out.
I agree. I would take him over Zidane any day of the week.
 
Right now there’s only one decent candidate and that’s Zidane. The question is does he even speak English? Its all moot anyway because Ole will get at least the rest of the season.

He speaks Italian, Spanish, French, Arabic, but very little English. Unless he's been learning during his sabbatical. But there are definite options out there, including Zidane of course.
 
Pep and Zidane only coached a top club because of affiliation. Klopp went to Liverpool after Dortmund, where he won the league and cup there. Potter has potential but he still needs to take an extra step before coming to a top club in the pl
I won't discount the fact that previous association gave Pep and Zidane the chance to get in but that's not the important aspect in this discussion, it's what they did after getting in that's important. We can argue about whether their standing a much loved legendary ex players gave them the authority to impose themselves but the fact remains the same, they proved themselves when they were relatively young.

We have taken the established manager route before and I am not declaring that just because Jose and LVG failed here so an established big name manager will never succeed here, no I am just looking at the names around and save for Enrique they all carry some form of buggage or they are not system based coaches who play a particular brand that we'd enjoy winning with.

Like I stated before, for me the main factor for a manager is not his CV but his ability to impose his style on a team successfully. I think you can look at say Potter or Ten Haag from Villa and conclude that if this guy gets the backing that Ole has received he can stand toe to toe against the big boys as we have seen them stand up to them with less resources.

The problem is that you leave such a manager to go to say Spurs, if he does well then he is untouchable for a few years as the Glazers won't pay off his contract and the other young promising managers are all taken. Plucking Potter from Brighton is considerably easier than doing the same from Spurs or Arsenal. He is the kind of guy that goes to Arsenal and gets them to take our CL spot away.
 
If we are just throwing around names then Adi Hutter or Christian Streich..... Just saying.
 
Good but what top level experience did Ole have? He was an improvement on the previous incumbents who had tons of experience. I can see the value but I also feel we over value it.
Another thing is that top managers barely adjust from a template that worked for them before. But the issue is that the reason they might be out of work are also some of the obstacles they would face here, case in point Zidane and Conte fell out with their boards over investment, if I remember correctly, so there is a good chance that they wouldnt work well under the Glazers who aren't consistent at all with the level of backing they give to the manager.
 
I'm definitely a "no" for Zidane. Just don't see him as an upgrade. We need a truly experienced man - which is why I wanted Allegri before he went back to Juve. Can't make my mind up about Conte. Ten Hag would be interesting. the problem is, we should have made the move in the summer: anyone who wasn't watching United through red-tinted glasses, knew Ole wasn't good enough. Our board is like the blood government: close eyes and pretend nothing is wrong.

Could we poach someone away from Germany or Spain? Seems unlikely at this stage, which might mean getting a caretaker - and I can't see who that would be. I predicted this mess, the moment the club went back on their word and gave Ole the job early...
 
Another thing is that top managers barely adjust from a template that worked for them before. But the issue is that the reason they might be out of work are also some of the obstacles they would face here, case in point Zidane and Conte fell out with their boards over investment, if I remember correctly, so there is a good chance that they wouldnt work well under the Glazers who aren't consistent at all with the level of backing they give to the manager.
That’s an excellent point, well made.

I think that’s at the forefront of the Glazers mindset when it comes to manager recruitment at present. Given what happened with the last 3, two of who were proven winners but with hugely different styles, I can’t see the owners going down that route again
 
I'm definitely a "no" for Zidane. Just don't see him as an upgrade. We need a truly experienced man - which is why I wanted Allegri before he went back to Juve. Can't make my mind up about Conte. Ten Hag would be interesting. the problem is, we should have made the move in the summer: anyone who wasn't watching United through red-tinted glasses, knew Ole wasn't good enough. Our board is like the blood government: close eyes and pretend nothing is wrong.

Could we poach someone away from Germany or Spain? Seems unlikely at this stage, which might mean getting a caretaker - and I can't see who that would be. I predicted this mess, the moment the club went back on their word and gave Ole the job early...
What word? They never said, “ you’ve only got the job till the end of the season. “ it was a caretaker appointment for sure but hindsight is wonderful
 
I'm a bit surprised there are many people mentioning Luis Enrique. I thought many would give him the old 'anybody could win with Barca' treatment. Maybe Spain's performance at the Euro's changed some perceptions.
 
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That’s an excellent point, well made.

I think that’s at the forefront of the Glazers mindset when it comes to manager recruitment at present. Given what happened with the last 3, two of who were proven winners but with hugely different styles, I can’t see the owners going down that route again
The issue with managers is that they are few of them who tolerate being held accountable over a failed transfer bar maybe Klopp in that they would get the club to spend a huge fee on Lindelof/Di Maria/Fred/Bissaka then next summer demand funds for a Maguire/Martial/Perisic/Trippier. We as funds just don't see it but for me it's ridiculous that Mourinho had us spend £30m on Mkhitaryan and twelve months later he was demanding we sign Perisic.

I am sure a lot of this happens at many clubs and I don't really follow it but it's another factor especially with the situation in Italy and Spanish football post COVID. Then you look at United and what we have spent over the past three years for Ole, we are just not in a state to spend big over the next two summers. In that vein we need manager that can be flexible in the market by for example accepting a Bissouma even when they want Kimmich or Rice.

A young manager on the up, thankful for the big break might just be more understanding than say Conte in this respect. Whether players take to them or not it's another matter but one I don't think will be insurmountable.
 
This all day. Why talk about changing the manager when the obvious glaring problem is there for all to see in our defensive midfield. Unless you think Ole is responsible for not fixing it. But the VDB nonsense suggests that Ole is not actually in charge of recruitment.

Imagine thinking, after spending many 100s of millions, that every position on the pitch has to have the optimal player before a manager’s work assessed.

We’ve had a squad good enough to win a domestic cup (like Leicester did, whose squad cost way less), a Europa League (like Villarreal whose squad cost less than Fred), or get to the knockout stages of the CL like Lazio, Porto, Sevilla and Atlanta last year.

I think very few people still buy this “he can’t do well because he’s missing this ONE player that will fix everything.”
 
We won leagues under Fergie with no midfield for years. Liverpool won the league with Hederson and Milner in there…

Maybe (dubious about that) but (a) McFred is way worse (b) we are heavily dependent on talent because we don't have a genius coach and (c) City and Chelsea can spend more and worry less about long term recklessness so it's much harder than in SAFs day to win the EPL

If you think a DM will make us have better team play consistently, you are totally delusional. I'm willing to bet money that a DM will change feck all in terms of how effective our gameplan is.

I'd take that bet. If we had Kante we would be right up there.

It has been said countless of times by Ole himself, other staffs of the clubs and tier one journalists that Ole has an important role in recruitment

Of course they say that but he plainly does not have control. You have to explain VDB, who he obviously didn't want. You have to ask why signings like Varane are outliers. The old big name guy on a free or the very young guy with big resale are our stock in trade. Those are financial decisions, not footballing ones.
 
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We won leagues under Fergie with no midfield for years. Liverpool won the league with Hederson and Milner in there…
This is just a myth that came about because people seriously underrated Michael Carrick for years and also undervalued Scholes' importance.
 
I'm still pro Ole but doubts are growing. The next 2 games are crucial. On a potential replacement, don't want either Conte or Zidane. Zidane isn't a United manager and Conte, although absolute world class, is a maniac and would leave us in a crisis like Mourinho. He'd probably win us a league though.
If Ole is to flop this season, I'm still of the opinion that Brendan Rodgers is the man for the job. Great man manager so would be a good transition from Ole and he knows how to get a team playing quality football which we really are being starved of at the moment.
Won the Fa Cup also with a far less talented squad than we have.
What do you mean Zidane isn’t a United manager? His CL record is too good?
 
We won leagues under Fergie with no midfield for years. Liverpool won the league with Hederson and Milner in there…
Which years were those? The one that springs to mind was SAF’s first with Phelan, Ince and McClair but we had Robson as back up and many felt that Ince was worth 2 players that season.
Pointing to a context that’s nearly 30 years old is wrong imo. We’ve moved on hugely since then. No successful side wins without some level of competitive play in there. Liverpool also won the league with Fabinho in there and a style of play that had all players covering and doing the dirty work in there
 
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