“He just looks like someone who would be a good manager for Manchester United” : Peter Schmeichel opts for Thomas Tuchel as ideal replacement for Erik ten Hag
It is Erik ten Hag’s third season with the Red Devils, and apart from winning the FA Cup and the League Cup in his tenure, no significant progress seems to be showing, and fans are now seeming to be losing patience.
Things could not have gone worse for the Dutchman, as Manchester United have started off their 24/25 campaign in the worst possible way. Now sitting 14th in the Premier League table with just two wins out of seven matches played, after another big money summer transfer window, ten Hag’s job looks to be in serious jeopardy.
Legendary Manchester United goalkeeper and now pundit Peter Schmeichel believes that there is no point for Erik ten Hag to be sacked right now, but if a change were to happen, he stated that he would like former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel to take charge.
“I like Thomas Tuchel, I really like him. Being around the Champions League, talking to him and interviewing him, listening to him talk to his players in the technical area, he just looks like someone who would be a good manager for Manchester United.” said Schmeichel (via the Seaman Says podcast).
“I just think he’s got such a great aura around him that he fits the bill for United” : Peter Schmeichel
Thomas Tuchel is one of the most reputed managers in world football, thanks to his tenures with Borussia Dortmund and especially Chelsea, where he won the UEFA Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup, and the world’s best club coach award. The Danish pundit realises this, and also believes that the German coached Chelsea and Bayern Munich at the wrong time.
“With the last two jobs Thomas Tuchel had, at Chelsea and at Bayern Munich, he was at those two clubs at the wrong time. Chelsea was a mess when he was there with the new owners coming in. At Bayern it was similar because they changed the whole leadership of the club,” said the former United goalkeeper.
“I don’t think he got his way at Chelsea and I know for sure he didn’t get his way at Bayern Munich. I just think he’s got such a great aura around him that he fits the bill for United. But, Erik ten Hag is still the manager.” the 60-year-old added.
The Danish also stated that he wants Erik ten Hag to succeed, as changing managers again and again would not be ideal and will hamper with consistency. But, he also admitted that he is not sure whether or not the Dutchman is the right person to take the Red Devils to the top.
“I will support him because I want the club to do well. I don’t want United to be the club that changes the manager all the time. I hope they stick with Erik because we need consistency now. Let him have a fair go at this. He’s been hampered by a lot of things over the last two years, now he’s got his own players, let him show us what the plan is and what he can do with the football club. If that doesn’t work then maybe then we talk about a change.”
“I don’t know to be completely honest. I really, really don’t know. I don’t think the owners think he is the one because we saw they were speaking to other managers in the summer and even recently there has been linked with Thomas Tuchel. I don’t know. If they decide to change the manager then fair enough, but I just don’t see the point in doing that right now. There’s a lot of things happening at the club at the moment so it’s difficult to judge precisely where the team is.” Schmeichel reflected.
Peter Schmeichel also wants the owners and fans to be a bit more patient, but admits that their league position is not doing them any favours. He also talked about waiting for the new players to have a solid impact at games as nothing can be proved at such a short span of time.
“Will we get back? How long until we get back? When is that going to happen? I think we need a bit of patience to see how the new guys that have come in are going to impact the club. It’s difficult to have a massive impact in such a short space of time. It’s been like this since Sir Alex [Ferguson] left so it’s a long, long period they have to correct. I’m all for giving them time but as we speak we’re 14th in the table so it’s not good enough.” the United legend concluded.
To say that Erik ten Hag’s days as manager are numbered is an understatement, because if things keep up this way, we could very well see a new manager at Old Trafford right after the international break.
