Ahead of the Man United board meeting in London, Thomas Tuchel emerged as one of the potential candidates if the "Red Devils" decide to stop playing with Erik ten Hag.
This is not the first time the Old Trafford team has considered the German captain's situation. Last summer, when intending to part ways with Ten Hag, Man United contacted Tuchel, right after the former Chelsea and PSG captain left Bayern Munich. At that time, Tuchel flatly refused Man United and until now he has not accepted a new job.
One of the attractions of Tuchel that has attracted interest from United is the ability to bring trophies straight away. The team has won the League Cup and FA Cup in the last two seasons, but Manchester United’s big bosses need more than that. First, they need a coach to bring the club back to a competitive position. Then, they need to move quickly to major trophies.
CEO Omar Berrada has outlined a plan to win the Premier League by 2028, more than three seasons away. This will be impossible if Ten Hag’s team continues to play as lifelessly as they are now. However, if the right coach arrives, three years is enough time to prepare, accelerate and finish the project.
The draw with Aston Villa at Villa Park is quite positive in terms of points for Man United. The opponent has just defeated Bayern Munich and is competing for the Top 4 while the "Red Devils" are still struggling in the bottom half of the rankings. However, this result does not guarantee Ten Hag's future because if they only have a few more bad matches, they will say goodbye to the top group competition. Thus, this season will be even worse than what happened in the 2023-2024 campaign.
Since 1993, Man United have never failed to qualify for the Champions League for two consecutive seasons and this is happening now. Currently, Erik ten Hag's team is 7 points behind the Top 4 and there is no sign of it being filled. The new owners are very concerned about the financial issue because the team is at the threshold of spending, forced to tighten everything to balance. If the revenue from the tournaments is not supplemented, they will not have money for transfers and so the level of the club will decline further.
Last week in Barcelona, Sir Jim Ratcliffe said the future of Ten Hag would be decided by the directors. But given the dire circumstances, the INEOS boss has had to step in, and may even be joined by co-owner Joel Glazer.
Back to Thomas Tuchel, he is an experienced strategist in the English playground. Together with Chelsea, Tuchel won the Champions League, FIFA Club World Cup and reached 3 other finals. However, the biggest obstacle for Tuchel is that he often does not stick around for long. Tuchel spent 18 months at Chelsea and Bayern, more than 2 years at PSG. With the French team, the 5 strategist reached the 2020 Champions League final and lost to Bayern Munich.
