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Manchester United were given a right scare by the Premier League’s bottom side Sheffield United who twice took the lead but the Red Devils eventually prevailed 4-2 at Old Trafford on Wednesday.
Captain Bruno Fernandes stepped up to save manager Erik ten Hag’s blushes days after the team had capitulated against Championship side Coventry City in the FA Cup semi-final.
The Dutchman was forced to abandon his chaos ball after instructions from new technical director Jason Wilcox as the team played a more controlled game based on holding on to possession.
But Ten Hag was adamant earlier on in the season that he would not like United to play the way his Ajax team played enroute to a Champions League semi-final and insisted that high transitions was what this squad was good at.
EtH’s uncertain future
That has not proven to be the case this season with the 20-time English league champions on course to record their lowest-ever Premier League finish while they got knocked out of Europe at the first time of asking.
The current group of players are not suited to the way Ten Hag wants to play and judging from results, the Dutch manager might be relieved of his duties even if the team is to clinch the FA Cup in May.
New co-owners INEOS are looking at a number of alternatives with Thomas Tuchel‘s name gaining a lot of traction recently. Graham Potter, Roberto de Zerbi and Gareth Southgate are some of the other names in contention.
TeamTalk have now added a brand new name into the mix – Edin Terzic of Borussia Dortmund. He is considered as “one of the best young head coaches in Europe”.
Under his tutelage, Dortmund won the 2020–21 DFB-Pokal by beating RB Leipzig quite convincingly while they also came within inches of claiming the Bundesliga title last season.
This year, BVB have reached the Champions League semi-finals against all odds and the German coach’s man-management and attractive play style has seen him garner plenty of admirers.
As per the report, United are not the only English team interested in Terzic, with West Ham United looking at the German as David Moyes’ successor.
Even Barcelona were interested but with Xavi set to stay, they are out of the running. The Hammers do hold an advantage as Terzic was assistant coach for two seasons when Slaven Bilic was in charge.
Terzic links
“Borussia Dortmund head coach Edin Terzic is attracting major interest from West Ham and Manchester United as they consider making managerial changes this summer, TEAMtalk understands.
“West Ham are considering replacing David Moyes at the end of the season when his contract expires and Terzic has admirers within the corridors of power at the London Stadium due to his previous links with the club.
“Man Utd could also be in the market for a new manager this summer as doubts continue to surround the future of Erik ten Hag and Terzic would fit the profile for United’s new structure under Ineos.”
One of Terzic’s biggest positives is his handling of young stars as seen from the way he helped develop the likes of Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham while he has helped Jadon Sancho regain form since his exile from United.
United are expected to adopt a youth-first policy moving forward and that could mean Terzic’s fortunes improve. Sancho would also be more than willing to join his new manager and come back to Old Trafford. The ball is in Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s court currently.
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