Manchester United begin season review with unpopular Erik ten Hag decision still possible
Erik ten Hag could still be sacked by Man Utd despite winning the FA Cup in spectacular circumstances.
Manchester United are beginning their season review this week as Erik ten Hag waits to discover his fate.
United sources have insisted for weeks that no decision would be made on the future of the Dutchman until after the FA Cup final was over, while Ten Hag has remained adamant that he has been told he would be part of the project going forward.
The unexpected victory over Man City in the FA Cup final over the weekend has thrown another spanner in the works, with any decision to sack Ten Hag likely to be an unpopular one after the manner of their heroic win.
Ten Hag has reiterated all season that United would be in a much better place if not for their horrendous injury record, and the excellent performance against City, with close to a fully fit squad, certainly backed up his point.
A report on the eve of the match stated Ten Hag would be sacked irrespective of the outcome at Wembley, with some external sources suggesting that the writing was already on the wall for the United manager ahead of the match.
The Ineos Group have been doing background checks on a number of different managers ahead of a possible change, with Mauricio Pochettino and Thomas Tuchel believed to be the two current frontrunners for the role. Kieran McKenna is also highly-rated, but there is a slight hesitation over his relative inexperience compared to other candidates and whether or not he is really ready for a job of such magnitude. Roberto De Zerbi and Graham Potter have both been previously admired by Ineos, while they are also huge fans of the work Gareth Southgate has done at international level with England.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe won't be swung by sentiment though, with United's new co-owners set to base their decision on the entire season of results and performances, rather than their victory over City. The brutal bottom line is that United recorded their lowest league finish since 1990 and suffered a record 14 defeats in the Premier League.