Manchester United made a complete mess of sorting the manager position out in the summer of 2024, with Erik ten Hag ending up staying.
After winning the FA Cup against Manchester City, there were a few weeks of speculation over whether Erik ten Hag would be sacked, with Ineos linked with approaching countless managers.
Ultimately, Manchester United extended Ten Hag’s contract, giving him a £200m transfer window in the process, a decision which was ultimately a massive blunder by Ineos.
Are you happy with Ineos and Sir Jim Ratcliffe?
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Just four months later, Ten Hag was gone, and this led to a mid-season managerial change, which saw Ruben Amorim have United’s worst Premier League campaign ever.
But the club did attempt to replace him in the summer.
Thomas Tuchel being interviewed by Roy Keane.
Photo by Michael Regan – The FA/The FA via Getty Images
Manchester United met with Thomas Tuchel four times over manager appointment
It was as clear as day that Ten Hag had to go in the summer of 2024, with Ineos having no faith, but it seems that a failed recruitment drive was behind his extension.
According to the Daily Mail, United chiefs would admit keeping Ten Hag was a big mistake.
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Efforts from Ineos to replace Ten Hag with Thomas Tuchel didn’t work out, with the report explaining sources close to the German say United handled their hiring attempts poorly.
United conducted four interviews with Tuchel, with the manager believing the questions were pointless, before ultimately no offer was made between the two parties.
The 7 managers contacted by Ineos about the Man United job before Ruben Amorim’s appointment
Roberto De Zerbi
Thomas Tuchel
Graham Potter
Thomas Frank
Xavi
Mauricio Pochettino
Marco Silva
Ineos chief Sir Jim Ratcliffe looks on before the trophy presentation after the Europa League final match between Tottenham and Manchester United at the Estadio de San Mames in 2025 in Bilbao, Spain.
Photo by Michael Regan – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images
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One source says that Ineos were running around like a headless chicken trying to find a new manager, with Dan Ashworth being against Amorim in the summer, explaining why he was axed in the autumn.
Where would United be if Thomas Tuchel was appointed in summer of 2024?
Keeping Ten Hag was an error, no matter which way it is spun, with faith in the German completely gone by this stage.
Appointing Tuchel would have been a pretty great move for the Red Devils, with the coaching pedigree he has, likely to immediately improve United, with the 2024/25 season likely to have resulted in a top-four finish.
Tuchel would probably currently have United in some sort of title race given his history at prior clubs, with Marcus Rashford likely a key player for him.
Additionally, he would probably be respecting the club’s values as he has done at Chelsea and Bayern Munich.
It always felt like Tuchel was likely to be a United head coach, and there is still a chance in the future. But if he were appointed in 2024, United would be in a much better position right now than keeping Ten Hag, which set the club back years.
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