In his exclusive column for CaughtOffside, former Aston Villa and Liverpool attacker Stan Collymore discusses some of football’s biggest talking points, including Erik Ten Hag’s Man United future, which manager could replace the Dutchman and a look ahead to this Sunday’s Premier League blockbuster between Liverpool and Man City, plus much more.
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Time is up for Erik Ten Hag at Man United…
I am convinced Erik Ten Hag will be sacked by Manchester United at the end of the season, regardless. There is no way United are going to continue with him after what has been a massively underwhelming second season in charge.
He’s been on borrowed time for a long time and the only reason he’s been given as much time as he has is because they won the Carabao Cup last season — without winning that trophy, he’d probably already be gone by now.
He hasn’t been able to come into the club and get everyone to buy into his philosophy. The best manager to do this in recent times has been Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. When he arrived at Anfield, he went into that dressing room and said ‘Right, who is coming into the trenches with me?’ and they all did. They bought into every single thing that man said and did and they followed him. Unfortunately for Ten Hag, he doesn’t have anywhere near that same kind of pull at Manchester United, and it shows.
Gareth Southgate is not the right man to replace Ten Hag…
On the subject of Ten Hag and his precarious future, there have been reports recently that United have included Gareth Southgate on their managerial shortlist.
I respect Southgate a lot as a coach but he is not the right man to take charge at Old Trafford. He doesn’t have the fierce leadership qualities that the job demands. If he took that role, I would be worried about how he’d deal with internal disciplinary issues. He’s almost too nice to take on all those egos while ensuring the team play the type of football pundits and fans demand week in and week out.
The same for Graham Potter. As I have said many times in the past, I think incredibly highly of Potter, he’s a top, top coach and an even better man, but I am not sure he’s the right profile of manager to take charge of Manchester United. That club needs a certain type of manager, and while there are some suitable candidates out there, for me, there is one clear favourite for the job.
But this man is…
Brighton and Hove Albion manager Roberto De Zerbi to Manchester United? — Absolutely!
I know the Seagulls’ recent results haven’t been anywhere near good enough but take nothing away from De Zerbi. He is a world-class coach but his personality and man-management skills also make him an ideal candidate.
He would not mess around there. He’d come in, make it known from day one who is in charge and he’d ensure every player there follows his every word, and if they don’t, he’d be ruthless enough to cut them loose, regardless of who they are.
So for me, it’s quite simple — I expect United to keep Ten Hag until the end of the season, although I suspect things will probably get worse for them in the meantime, especially with a tough Premier League game against Everton coming up before a gruelling FA Cup quarter-final tie against Liverpool. But once the season ends, I think it’ll be time for the Dutchman to move onto a new challenge with De Zerbi being the best candidate out there to take over.
Arsenal will be this weekend’s big winners…
These types of blockbuster matches rarely live up to expectations. It’s a huge game, there is no doubt about that, but I just think there is so much at stake that neither team can really afford to lose it.
There are going to be hundreds of camera crews stationed at Anfield ahead of what a lot of people are expecting to be a sporting spectacle. I’m just not convinced we’re going to be treated to a goal-fest.
I actually think this weekend’s big winners are going to be Arsenal. I see them comfortably beating Brentford on Saturday and putting all the pressure on Liverpool and City. I think both teams will score but it’ll be a low-scoring game — I’m going to predict 1-1 with both Darwin Nunez and Erling Haaland playing key roles.