Manchester United
Premier League • England
Jamie Carragher urges Erik ten Hag to ditch big-name duo as first job after Man Utd make ‘brave’ decision
Jamie Carragher has called Manchester United’s move for Erik ten Hag ‘a brave decision’, but has urged the current Ajax boss to axe Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Pogba as one of his first jobs.
Ten Hag is now the clear favourite to become United’s next permanent manager after impressing the club’s hierarchy during their discussions over the past few weeks. Indeed, a report on Wednesday confirmed that the deal is very close to being formalised.
Mauricio Pochettino was thought to be the favourite for the role. However, United reportedly feel that ten Hag represents the best fit for the club’s current situation.
While Carragher has backed the choice, he also believes that the Dutchman needs to offload Ronaldo and Pogba this summer.
“I think it’s a good decision, I think it’s a brave decision,” Carragher told CBS Sports.
“The easy choice would have been Pochettino because he’s been in the Premier League before. But they’ve gone for a manager who’s not been in the Premier League.
“They’ve always gone with the established name if you like in terms of Jose Mourinho, Louis van Gaal. They went with Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer], who was the easy choice.
“The brave choice would have been not to go with Ole. Because he had such a good time to start with as a caretaker.
Christian Eriksen could sign for Manchester United
Christian Eriksen could sign for Manchester United this summer as a free agent
“So what I mean by this is he’s not managed at a big club and he is seen as this up-and-coming coach, ‘he’s new, he’s fresh’ and Pochettino’s not, he’s actually older than Pochettino, which some people don’t seem to actually know.
Several factors key to Ten Hag decision
“I don’t think he’s getting picked for the fact of just what he’s done for Ajax in terms of being successful because you expect that at Ajax.
“But what they’ve done in the Champions League in terms of getting to the semi-final. How they play their football, their performance in the group stage this season.
“They’ll be disappointed to go out to Benfica but I think it’s a brave choice because I do think Manchester United now need to start making brave decisions, and some of them about the players as well, in terms of Pogba and Cristiano Ronaldo need to go.”
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