Next Manchester United manager: Who could be next as Erik ten Hag faces player revolt

It's that time again at Manchester United.

The dressing room is leaking, the defence is creaking and the fans are weeping. Usually, it only ends in one way: the manager being sacked.

First it was David Moyes, then Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, and now Erik ten Hag is fighting to save his job amid a revolt from his own players. 10 defeats in 21 games is a wretched return - their worst start since 1973-74, a season in which the Red Devils were relegated - and despite suggestions that Sir Jim Ratcliffe won't put Ten Hag's position under immediate threat in his review of football operations, there's no doubt minds are beginning to mull over who could be next in the Old Trafford hot seat.

Mirror Football assesses at eight candidates who United could consider if Ten Hag gets the chop.

Julian Nagelsmann

Much like United, the German national team are in a deep crisis. Naglesmann is the man challenged with turning things around before hosting Euro 2024, a task so crucial to his mandate that when he was appointed in September, he was only handed a contract up until the end of the tournament, meaning that he may well find himself available again next summer.

That offers the Red Devils a chance to line up the 36-year-old, who's already managed Bayern Munich, nicknamed FC Hollywood in Germany, a club who garners far more attention than any other - sound familiar?

Nagelsmann notably supported United as a youngster. Speaking in 2020, ahead of a meeting with United while RB Leipzig boss, he revealed: "I watched a lot of games in the Theatre of Dreams and of Manchester United on television. Now to be part of the stadium will be perfect.

"Bayern Munich versus Manchester United, for example, the final when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer scored. Ryan Giggs played a lot of big games for Manchester United, Paul Scholes, Ruud Van Nistelrooy... A lot of players. I watched nearly every game of Manchester United 10 years ago, when I was a younger guy and a player."

Graham Potter

With Ratcliffe set to officially come on board at Old Trafford early next week via a £1.3billion deal to purchase a 25 per cent stake from the Glazer family, the British billionaire - a boyhood United fan - and his company INEOS' sports division plan to overhaul United's faltering football department. That, of course, could eventually lead to a change at the top, just like petrochemical conglomerate INEOS has done on five occasions since buying French side Nice in 2019.

A man who's been tipped for a move to the south of France on multiple occasions is former Chelsea and Brighton boss Graham Potter, as he's believed to be admired by Ratcliffe and co. With a reputation for developing players and implementing a fluid style of football, the English tactician has taken a break since his sacking in April and turned down offers.

Surely, though, Potter would be open to taking the United job and proving that his failure to change Chelsea's fortunes was only a hiccup in his still promising career?

Michael Carrick

Would it really be a next United manager list without mentioning a former player?

Carrick guided Middlesbrough to the play-off semi-finals last season and after a tricky start to this campaign has got one of the Championship's slickest sides back on song.

Still the measured and cool character he was as a midfield maestro, the 42-year-old worked under both Mourinho and Solskjaer before walking away from Old Trafford in November 2021 after the latter's sacking and a three-game unbeaten caretaker spell. It'd be a romantic return, although his lack of managerial experience - never mind at a club like United - is a red flag. But he's not alone.

Get involved! Who should Manchester United hire if they sack Erik ten Hag? Let us know in the comments section.

Kieran McKenna

Speaking of members of Mourinho and Solskjaer's coaching staff who've shone in their first senior jobs, McKenna has arguably done even better than Carrick. After masterminding Ipswich's automatic promotion from League One last term, the Tractor Boys have taken to the second tier like a duck to water.

Sat second in the table after 19 games, only trailing leaders Leicester by a single point, McKenna faces off against Carrick this Saturday up in the north east. The London-born Irish coach will be desperate to get one over one his pal and boost his stock even higher ahead of a job like the United one.

Ange Postecolgou

While United aren't the juggernaut that they once were, back when Sir Alex Ferguson was able to poach the Premier League's finest and weaken his rivals, the Red Devils still boast pulling power which even Postecoglou might struggle to ignore. The Tottenham boss has done a superb job during his six months in charge and had Spurs in the title conversation only a few weeks ago.

The Aussie-Greek coach has shown his ability to make a rapid impact on a group of underperforming and unfancied players, bringing the Scottish title back to Celtic at the first time of asking before turning Tottenham into one of Europe's best teams to watch within a matter of months.

United would be a much broader task, but the principles of having a proper sort-out remain the same.

Roberto De Zerbi

If Tottenham are this season's Premier League team to watch, last term it was without doubt Brighton. Having replaced Potter in September 2022, De Zerbi took the seagulls to the next level. Now a Europa League side, the Seagulls would do their upmost to keep him in the dugout if a bigger fish came calling.

Nevertheless, Brighton are considered a selling club and will likely have a succession plan in place if De Zerbi ends up being poached.

A tactical innovator with a fiery passion for success in style, he also knows a thing or too about spotting talent off the pitch, as demonstrated our next pick.

Francesco Farioli

The boldest shout but someone already tried and tested under the Ratcliffe regime is up-and-coming Italian tactician Farioli.

Still only 34, the De Zerbi disciple - who coached at Benevento and Sassoulo under the Brighton boss' guidance - made his name as a senior manager in Turkey before getting the Nice job in June. Since then, Farioli has guided the INEOS-owned club to eight wins, five draws and one defeat in Ligue 1, currently sitting second behind Paris Saint-Germain.

Saturday's 1-0 loss away to Nantes also saw Farioli's side concede just their fifth goal in 14 league games. Farioli works well with Ratcliffe and the Nice hierarchy, revealing in a recent interview: "The first time we met, the feeling he transferred to me, it was really like the feeling of somebody that was really aware of many things. I felt already known before knowing him. It was a really warm welcome."

United taking a punt on Farioli would be remarkable, but haven't they tried everything else? The Premier-League-proven boss, the professor, the winner, the club legend, the next big thing. How about finding a talent before everyone else does?

Ruben Amorim

A three-time Portuguese league champion for Benfica as a player, Amorim went into management aged 32 after a spate of injuries forced him into an early retirement.

In 2021, following a brief stint with Braga in which he won the league cup, the ex-Portugal international led Sporting Lisbon to their first title in 19 years to render his maiden full season an overwhelming success. Although they've finished second and fourth since, Amorim's Sporting have beaten both Tottenham and Arsenal in European competition.

Having been linked with the Red Devils job before Ten Hag's appointment, the 38-year-old was asked last month about the possibility of replacing him. "I have an idea for the end of the season but I won't say it now," Amorim replied.

"But the results and the context take us to something different. I don’t want to be commenting on these things. I have not been contacted by Manchester United."

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