Erik ten Hag has his own decision to make on Manchester United future

It is understandable why Manchester United fans are so frustrated by the uncertainty surrounding the club ahead of a seismic summer.

As we enter day 12, there has yet to be any decision communicated on the future of Erik ten Hag following the club's end-of-season review, that is if they have even reached one at all.

That's because it isn't a simple answer. For every reason to keep Ten Hag there appears to be another conflicting reason to sack him as well. The FA Cup win was heroic, the rest of the campaign was shambolic. The injury situation was rotten, yet he was the one tasked with keeping them fit. The players aren't good enough, he was the one who signed many of them.

The crux of the matter is whether Ten Hag is the best available candidate for the role going forward, hence why the Ineos Group have been conducting background checks on potential replacements to gauge whether a change is actually necessary.

Yet the other question that needs to be answered is whether or not Ten Hag would actually want to continue in the new role going forward anyway.

The Dutchman only has a year left on his current deal and if he were to remain in the job, then he'd need to have the full backing of the board. That would likely mean a new long-term contract to reflect their faith in him, as well as a potential change in actual job title. Ten Hag was appointed as the 'manager' and has helped restore authority to the Old Trafford hot seat. However, Ineos are keen to work with a 'head coach' going forward, which would mean less overall power for Ten Hag at the club, with his focus solely on getting the best out of the playing squad.

It could pose a real problem. Ten Hag believes he should have the final say on what players United sign, a level of power that has already proved controversial during his time at the club, given his affiliation to Dutch players, or those who are represented by the same agency as him. Going forward, Ineos plan to ask the United manager for their input on which areas of the squad to strengthen and even their preferred targets, but they will not be given the same freedom to go and buy exactly who they want from the offset.

There is also the theory that after so much speculation surrounding his future, and the lacking of public backing from Ineos, Ten Hag could even turn around and decide he no longer wants the job because he hasn't had the level of assurances he has deserved throughout their audit.

Ten Hag has insisted throughout the season that Ineos are planning with him going forward and that he has never questioned his own role beyond the end of the campaign, but even now, the lack of communication speaks louder than words in itself. It also seemed timely that in the wake of the FA Cup victory, he sent a defiant message that he would 'go and win trophies somewhere else' if United made the mistake of sacking him, a reminder of the talented manager they already have at the club.

Ineos must not only ask themselves if they want to keep Ten Hag, he must ask himself whether or not he really wants to stay.