Man Utd next manager: If Ten Hag can’t bring Ratcliffe his ‘razzmatazz’, which coach can?

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s investment and Man Utd’s continued malaise puts Erik ten Hag in peril. But which attainable manager could bring the ‘electricity’ back to Old Trafford?

If Gary Neville is right, and Sir Jim Ratcliffe is seeking ‘electricity and razzmatazz’ from his investment in Manchester United, then the billionaire will have have left Old Trafford on Sunday feeling rather short-changed.

Ratcliffe would not have been alone. The majority of United fans sloped away from the 2-2 draw feeling uninspired and, probably, rather bored.

Their team offered another insipid display, even if they might have beaten a Spurs side who are offering their supporters rather more excitement to wake them from the Mogadon seasons of Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte. United, though, were painfully flat. Ratcliffe, flanked by Sir Alex Ferguson, cannot have failed to notice that the whole shebang – atmosphere, performance, tactics – was woefully subdued.

This was Ratcliffe’s first opportunity to see for himself the scale of the job he has taken on. The INEOS chief has already had his minions – Sir Dave Brailsford and Jean-Claude Blanc – inspecting the shell of the club he claims to have supported as a boy. And the feedback already, presumably, will be themed around the need for widespread change.

There is simply no way this Manchester United, overseen by Erik ten Hag, can offer the bang Ratcliffe expects for his billion-plus bucks. Is Ten Hag the root of United’s problems. Of course not. Does he provide the simplest and quickest route to change? Or at least the perception of it? Absolutely.

It is hard to think of Ten Hag as anything other than a dead man walking. The popular belief is that the Dutchman is on trial between now and the end of the season while Ratcliffe and co. get their feet under the boardroom table. To pass that trial, or even to extend it, Ten Hag will have to oversee an improvement that looks way beyond his squad right now.

Perhaps the requirements for that surpass his coaching capabilities. It is true that after a season and a half at Old Trafford, United are hardly a team in the manager’s image. If they are, that’s an even more damning indictment on Ten Hag.

There is plenty of mitigation. Ten Hag inherited a rabble of a squad and many of the changes implemented during his reign were undertaken by people unfit for their roles. The manager is hardly blameless in that. It was he who so badly wanted Antony that the club pulled their own pants down for Ajax.

Like many clubs this season, United have been ravaged with injuries, while the players available to him have hardly furthered Ten Hag’s prospects. They too have to be held to account – something many have swerved for too long, often insulated by the value of the contracts thrust before them.

Without a rapid, dramatic and unlikely uptick in performance and results between now and May, it is hard to imagine Ten Hag not going the same way as the five who went before him and after Ferguson. With each, there came a point where their position seemed untenable and while Ten Hag might not be quite there yet, United’s continued malaise combined with the arrival of a new regime places him in great peril.

As ever, though, few seem to be thinking beyond the here and now around United. If Ten Hag can’t bring the ‘razzmatazz’, who can?

Do United and Ratcliffe even want razzmatazz? It seems chasing just that, by signing expensive, unsuitable players rather than drawing up a coherent and sustainable recruitment plan, is a large part of the reason they are where they are.

If Neville was referring to the style of play, apparently unidentifiable under Ten Hag, then United might once more be heading down the wrong path. Top teams and elite coaches crave control, domination – death by a thousand passes. If Ratcliffe really wants a return to the pace and flair of the sides managed by the fella he flanked on Sunday, it may be an impossible dream.

Perhaps the man Ratcliffe really needs is the most unattainable of all. Jurgen Klopp strikes arguably the best balance between electric, heavy-metal football and the serenity of superiority. Unfortunately for United, there aren’t many Klopp clones out there.

The current list of potential replacements for Ten Hag is as uninspiring as the football United are producing. Graham Potter is the bookies’ favourite, which is perhaps the most valid reason for sticking with Ten Hag.

Also in the bookies top ten: Zinedine Zidane, the managers of Bournemouth and Ipswich, Antonio Conte and Ralph Hasenhuttl.

Ruben Amorim’s name may intrigue some, but the Sporting Lisbon coach, coming from an exciting, young team in a European league outside the big five, would be a very Ten Hag appointment.

The most appealing candidate on that list is perhaps Roberto De Zerbi. The Brighton boss is untried at the level United still claim they belong but he appears ready for his chance to shine. De Zerbi is a front-footed coach, seemingly with the confidence and character to take life at Old Trafford in his stride. But we thought similar of the last five too.

Whomever Ratcliffe decides to place in charge of his team, they will need a raft of new players. No manager could be reasonably expected to out-play Manchester City and Liverpool, and perhaps even Arsenal and Tottenham, with this squad. Ten Hag’s teams had an identity before he arrived at Old Trafford. So did Ralf Rangnick’s. He recognised after barely 90 minutes against Crystal Palace that the self-centred players at his disposal were not capable – or willing – of playing in such a way.

Changes have taken place since the German’s insistence that only ‘open-heart surgery’ could revive United, but nowhere close to the number really necessary. Putting the expertise in place above the manager, any manager, has to be the primary focus for Ratcliffe before the summer.

That process, running alongside the latest review of United’s failings, could see Ten Hag given the chance to put his stamp on a squad unburdened of some of the characters who have held him and United back. Just as likely, more so perhaps, is that change will extend from the boardroom through the dressing room to the dug-out.

For Ratcliffe and the new regime, ditching Ten Hag would be simple to do and easy to explain; the job of finding a suitable replacement appears far, far more fraught with danger.