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Another season goes by and Manchester United are going to end it without any trophies to their name. United's last trophy came in 2017 when Jose Mourinho led them to the Europa League title, by beating Ajax.
It will be 10 years next season since Manchester United last won the Premier League. Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager at the time, in his final season, in 2013. Since then, it's been six different managers, £1.2 billion spent, and no league titles.
With Ole Gunnar Solksjaer getting the sack this season, he was replaced by Ralf Rangnick who came in as interim manager. The search for a permanent manager is on and the two main contenders are Ajax’s Dutch manager Erik Ten Hag and Paris Saint-Germain’s Argentinian manager Mauricio Pochettino.
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Let’s see how they have done in their careers so far and who might be the better fit for Manchester United.
Pochettino - United's safe option
If you have been a Premier League regular for the last decade, then you know who Mauricio Pochettino is. The 50-year-old Argentine began his managing career in 2009 with Spanish side Espanyol.
During his time at Espanyol, the club finished 11th, 8th, and 14th in the La Liga. Poch was eventually sacked in November 2012 after managing only nine points in 12 games and his team sitting at the bottom of the table.
Against Spain's traditional top-four, he managed five wins, six draws, and 14 losses, with no trophies. Overall, he was praised for his employment of a high pressing 4-2-3-1 formation and with little expectation at Espanyol, he got away with it.
The praise got him a move to Premier League side Southampton in January 2013, mid-way through the season.
In the Premier League, Southampton finished 14th in 2012-13, and 8th in his only full season at the club.
In fact, 2013-14 was a very good season for Southampton and that saw Tottenham come in to gain his services in the summer of 2014. At Spurs, Pochettino gained relative success by helping the club finish in their highest positions for a decade. 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th were the spots at which the team ended up over five full seasons of the Premier League.
They also had two losses in the finals of the Carabao Cup and Champions League. Post the CL Final loss in 2019, Pochettino was sacked in November 2019 with the club sitting 14th in the table.
Overall, against the traditional top-six, over six years in the league, Poch managed 19 wins, 19 draws, and 31 losses. No trophies to his name, but an appealing style of football and a likable personality.
Pochettino then took time off from football and was only appointed PSG boss in January last year. Poch has managed two trophies so far but no league titles, although he is set to win one this season.
His time at PSG has not been a happy one and he has struggled to handle the big personalities at the club. All this has led to rumors that he will leave and Manchester United are interested.
Ten Hag - High risk, high reward?
The other option, and by all accounts, the most popular one, amongst fans is Erik ten Hag. The 52-year-old Dutchman began his management career in 2015 with the Utrecht club in his own country.
Ten Hag had worked as the coach of Bayern Munich II during the time that Pep Guardiola was Bayern boss. After joining Utrecht, he helped the club finish 5th and 4th over two seasons in the Eredivisie.
Ten Hag’s work caught Ajax's eye as he became their manager in December 2017. That season, his team lost only twice in 16 games and ended the season at the second spot in the Dutch league.
In the four seasons since, ten Hag has won the league twice, while one season ended abruptly due to COVID, and one is still ongoing. This season, Ajax are in the middle of a title race with PSV Eindhoven and in the KNVB trophy Final.
Ten Hag has a total of five trophies to his name and could add two more this season. Ajax were arguably the better team when they lost to Tottenham. They play a 4-3-3 formation with a high line and an emphasis on pressing.
They are usually able to get the ball back in higher areas which allows them to then score goals. It’s an exciting form of football albeit in the Dutch league.
Who's the better fit for Manchester United?
Pochettino is younger than Ten Hag but has more experience. As far as Premier League managers go, he has a proven pedigree in the league. That never resulted in anything more than good football and at Spurs, the 'serial loser' tag never deserted him.
Poch has struggled at PSG and while most managers do tend to struggle at the club, Pochettino hasn’t got PSG playing brilliant football.
Ten Hag is a risk, he’s done well in the Eredivisie but in Europe bar that 18-19 season, his team has failed to get past the Round of 16. In fairness to ten Hag, that Ajax team was decimated by bigger clubs poaching their best players. In a normal scenario, the next step would be a move to Borussia Dortmund or a lower-risk Premier League team like Tottenham.
It is that unknown that is perhaps more exciting for Manchester United fans. They feel they know what they will get with Pochettino. United will splash the cash to get players for Pochettino.
The club may get a few top-four finishes, maybe even come close to challenging for the title. But there’s a doubt as to whether Poch will be able to compete with Manchester City, Liverpool, and Chelsea in their current form.
Can ten Hag compete with them? It is an unknown. Fans of Manchester United want to see a change and ten Hag would be that breath of fresh air. He would be someone who has no experience in the Premier League and someone who could revolutionize United from within, if given a chance. At Ajax, unlike United, ten Hag had that stability from top down with Edwin Van der Sar and Marc Overmars.
Both managers have pros and cons to their appointment. Pochettino would get a short leash from Manchester United fans while ten Hag would get a short leash from pundits. What will evidently decide if the Red Devils are successful in the coming seasons is not their managerial appointment but whether they back their managers by spending wisely. If the manager gets a greater say at Manchester United, then success may follow.
