Manchester United's managerial suspense is up again. Previously, Tenhag was seen as the number one favourite for United's new manager, and after an interview with the club's top brass, the Dutch coach seemed to be in the countdown to Old Trafford. But since then, there has been no substantive news from United. There was a word called "long night dreaming", and sure enough, variables began to appear.
According to the Independent, although Tenhag was one of the first candidates to be interviewed by Manchester United's senior management, he was not sure that he would become the United manager. Tenhag told the United manager in an interview that he believes the job of coaching the Red Devils is a five-year plan that will change the physical condition of the players first. But in this interview, Tenhag did not leave too good an impression on the United executives. They found Tenhag not particularly attractive compared to Pochettino. In addition, they are aware that the results achieved by players or coaches who have gone from the Dutch First Division to other major European leagues have been mixed, and the players in the team also have different views on Tenhag's ability.
According to the Independent, Tenghag's entry into Manchester United is not optimistic, and there are 3 main reasons.
First, there is a lack of patience on the part of the United hierarchy. We believe that Tenhag must have done his homework for this interview. He has taken an extensive look at United's squad, seen the team's shortcomings and developed a plan for a makeover, even mentioning possible signing targets. And how long does it take to complete these transformations? 5 years!
But we know that what the United hierarchy lacks most is patience. Moyes was fired less than a season after taking office, and van Gaal, Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer did not go over 3 years. Tenhag offered to take 5 years as soon as he came up, and they certainly couldn't stand it. In the post-Ferguson era, United's competitive performance has been sluggish, and the economic supremacy of the Premier League has been shaken. If it takes another 5 years, and the effect is still unknown, they must be suspicious.
Secondly, the Manchester United hierarchy has never fully recognized Tenhag's coaching standards. Tenhag's lead at Ajax was good, but it was the Dutch first division after all, and there was no comparison with the strength of the Premier League.
We can see several candidates who have been included in the list of new Manchester United managers along with Tenhag, Pochettino, Enrique, Lopetegui and Tuchel. Any of them have coaching experience in Europe's top five leagues and have a more convincing resume than Tenhag.
It is also very important that before hiring Tenhag, United were also impressed by the other side's leading statement in the interview. "The godfather of German football", "the father of high-level pressing", the mentor of German coaches such as Klopp, Tuchel, Nagelsmann, etc., this series of resounding names made manchester United executives refuse Conte at all costs. The end result? Almost half a year has passed, and the team's record and performance on the field have not improved much.
Therefore, for the big pie that Tenhag "drew" in the interview, the Manchester United executives will also have doubts.
In addition, manchester United executives had a bad impression of Tenhag in the interview. We know that the United hierarchy wants an easy, "obedient" manager, but Tenhag is a very assertive manager. He has a clear understanding of his tactical play and a clear direction for which players he wants. In the interview, Tenghag mentioned that the target of reinforcements must be from Ajax. But given the previous unsuccessful experiences of Depay and Van der Beek, this also made the United top management worried.
Combining the above points, it can be seen that the Manchester United top management has stagnated in the matter of changing the coach. Getting Tenhag is not difficult, but there are doubts about his abilities and rebuilding plans; Pochettino is also a potential hot target, but has a contract with Paris Grande and has a high termination fee. As for Tuchel, Enrique, and Lopetegui, it is too difficult to dig people. As a result, there are not many options at the top of Manchester United, and it will be difficult to make decisions for a while and a half.