Carragher believes Erik ten Hag could have United competing in 2 years
Jamie Carragher believes Erik ten Hag could have Man United ‘challenging for the biggest honours in a couple of years’ and backs new boss to ‘start afresh with three or four new first-team players’
- Erik ten Hag has been announced as the next manager of Manchester United
- He will take over from Ralf Rangnick when he finishes current season with Ajax
- Jamie Carragher has offered his verdict and says Dutchman was the right choice
- He says United could be back competing for honours sooner than many think
Jamie Carragher believes Manchester United’s appointment of Erik ten Hag could see them competing for major honours within the next two seasons.
The Dutchman was officially announced as the next man in charge on Thursday morning and he will succeed Ralf Rangnick at the end of the campaign.
Ten Hag, 52, saw off competition from Mauricio Pochettino and the PSG boss was the other front-runner for the job at Old Trafford.
Erik ten Hag has been appointed as the next manager of Manchester United
Bruno Fernandes and Co are in desperate need of a lift and will hope Ten Hag can provide it
United have been poor this season and are battling to qualify for the Champions League. But as Thomas Tuchel showed when he took charge of Chelsea, fortunes can be transformed at the drop of a hat.
Carragher believes the United hierarchy chose the right man.
‘I think he is (the right choice), he’s the guy I’d have gone for,’ the Liverpool legend wrote for Sky Sports.
‘I know it was a toss-up between him and Mauricio Pochettino, I just feel the job he’s done at Ajax, and Pochettino, who I’m a huge fan of, has gone to PSG and it hasn’t quite worked out. At Tottenham, I absolutely loved them but they couldn’t get over the line in terms of getting a trophy.
‘This idea of four or five years to turn a club round, Manchester United don’t need that. If they get the recruitment right, get the right manager in, a couple of years at the most they should be challenging for the biggest honours.’
Jamie Carragher thinks United could have three or four new starters next season
Many believe the rot has set in at United, with players underperforming and fan protests against the Glazer ownership meaning Ten Hag is taking over at a tumultuous time.
The club say his vision of the future matches their own and that could mean a clear-out this summer when United try to rejuvenate the side.
Carragher added: ‘He’ll revitalise some players and he’ll probably have to add three or four players to the starting XI.
‘He’s got to make brave decisions. I’ve said for a long time in that Manchester United dressing room you’ve got to take out some of those big names and start from afresh with a new, young, energetic team to try and compete with Guardiola and Klopp.’
Ten Hag has been backed with a three-year deal at Old Trafford – with the option for a fourth – and will be hoping the team can sneak into the top four this term in order to ease the recruitment process.
Ten Hag will finish the season with Ajax before moving to the UK to take charge
It will be fascinating to see how Ten Hag deals with Cristiano Ronaldo at the club
United will end the campaign without a trophy and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking earlier in the season did little to revive fortunes.
Rangnick has struggled and after United’s latest embarrassment, a 4-0 drubbing by rivals Liverpool, he simply admitted that the opposition ‘had better players’.
It would be a surprise to see Paul Pogba in a United shirt again and there remain doubts over 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo’s future.
United retain an interest in Declan Rice, Kalvin Philips and Youri Tielemans. Christopher Nkunku is another who could be recommended by Rangnick following his blistering form for RB Leipzig.
Following years of steady decline after Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement, Ten Hag will have his work cut out to have United challenging for honours again in the near future.
Declan Rice has long been admired at United and they could move for him this summer
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