Julen Lopetegui has a genuine belief that he will be in the running to become Manchester United boss if Erik ten Hag leaves the club.
Erik ten Hag’s first season at the club was so encouraging but the Dutchman now finds himself under major pressure.
A Carabao Cup win and Champions League qualification gave Ten Hag a very promising debut campaign at Old Trafford.
This season has been very, very different with United struggling to string positive results together.
Out of the Carabao Cup, out of the Champions League, out of Europe, already six points shy of the top four.
United still seem to be living off moments rather than tactical excellence and the lack of identity on the pitch is disappointing for Ten Hag’s second season in charge.
United are well behind where fans would have expected and, whilst Sunday’s draw at Liverpool at least showed some battling qualities, Ten Hag remains a man fighting for his job.
Julen Lopetegui thinks he’s a Manchester United contender
We aren’t expecting to see United make a managerial change in the coming days or even weeks unless Ten Hag suffers a truly terrible festive period.
The Telegraph now claim that one manager thinks he could be the next United boss – Julen Lopetegui.
It’s claimed that Lopetegui had contact to become the new Nottingham Forest boss but is ‘holding out for a bigger job’.
Lopetegui allegedly thinks that he is a serious contender for the United job if Ten Hag is sacked, but is also eyeing the West Ham United job.
The Spaniard has been out of work since leaving Wolverhampton Wanderers in August, ironically just days before being scheduled to face United.
Lopetegui seemingly doesn’t want to just jump into work and appears to be saving himself for United if Ten Hag’s situation worsens.
Doubts over Lopetegui are more than reasonable
We can’t imagine many United fans being excited about this one.
Lopetegui has been a decent manager over the years.
The 57-year-old won the Europa League in 2020 and won more than half his games in 170 matches as Sevilla boss.
Lopetegui improved Wolves and kept them in the Premier League, but the job at United is very, very different.
We are used to seeing a fairly conservative approach from Lopetegui and if United are going to make a change, we would like to see a progressive and attacking brand of football.
There are also reservations about Lopetegui’s suitability for the truly top clubs; he only won six in 14 games as Real Madrid manager in 2018, losing six times.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and co will influence that decision and he has predominantly favoured young, attacking managers at Nice, such as current boss Francesco Farioli.
Lopetegui did a fine job at Wolves but we aren’t convinced that he would be the right man for United, especially with what we think Ratcliffe’s vision will be going forward.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/DiAdvNp