Man United progressing talks with Gareth Southgate to replace Erik ten Hag
According to Fichajes.net, Manchester United have identified Gareth Southgate as their first choice to succeed Erik ten Hag as their men’s first-team manager in the summer.
Southgate, manager of the England men’s national football team since 2016, is currently preparing for this summer’s UEFA Euro 2024, which many believe to be his last tournament as manager of the Three Lions.
For Erik ten Hag, on the other hand, the situation continues to go from bad to worse. Having failed to build upon a promising debut season, the Dutchman may potentially end up overseeing the worst season at Old Trafford since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
United’s new sporting owners, led by Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s INEOS Group, deem Southgate to be the ideal candidate to replace Ten Hag. Talks between the two sides are progressing, and an announcement is being considered likely to arrive after the club season ends and before the Euros begin.
Southgate link hard to understand at first sight, but…
The perception regarding Southgate during his time with England has generally been negative, with many considering him very conservative for what is deemed the most exciting bunch of English players in decades.
So it’s understandable why Southgate’s United links don’t immediately go down well with the Old Trafford faithful. But there’s more at play here than what meets the eye at first.
During his time with England, Southgate has proven very adept at fostering a healthy environment for his players, which also includes deploying a roadmap to make the transition for youth players into the senior setup as seamless as possible, and has been mostly praiseworthy with how he has dealt with the pugnacious beast that is the English media.
As far as the tactics are concerned, Southgate is, in fact, a conservative at heart, but it’s important to keep in mind that his approach is more conducive to success in international football than that of an idealistic coach in the mould of Pep Guardiola.
Sadly, there’s not much room for nuanced discussion in modern-day football, so even if a team go deep in a tournament that has a fair few favourites alongside them, anything apart from lifting a trophy is considered a failure.
England’s men’s side, trophyless since 1966, have gone deep in the tournaments under Southgate but haven’t lifted a trophy yet, so by modern standards he’s simply a failure, and from there comes the unpleasant air that surrounds him for any future jobs that may come his way.
The intangibles mentioned above that have been demonstrated by Southgate are the ones United need in their next manager as well, so once you scratch the top layer of confoundedness, the Southgate push by INEOS becomes understandable.
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Should he arrive at Old Trafford in the summer, Southgate will find in general an environment hostile to his presence, and he will know very well that only wins and trophies will silence his detractors and win him followers.
