Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is coming under intense scrutiny following a difficult start to the season and, not for the first time this year, questions are swirling around his future in the dugout.
A 3-0 defeat against Liverpool at Old Trafford before the international break was perhaps written off as a blip, but the heat has ramped up following Tottenham Hotspur’s visit last weekend — which saw another three unanswered goals and a red card for Bruno Fernandes — with the Dutchman’s side looking out of sorts from the off.
Manchester United vacancy talk leaves Graham Potter in an awkward spot
Graham Potter worked with Manchester United director of football Dan Ashworth at Brighton before landing the Chelsea job (Image credit: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images) (Image credit: Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images)
With speculation growing, and Potter appearing as a guest on Monday Night Football ahead of Bournemouth v Southampton, it was an opportune moment to ask him about the links.
Monday Night Football host David Jones gave Graham Potter some difficult questions to answer (Image credit: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) (Image credit: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
Asked whether he’d be open to taking charge at United, should the chance present itself, Potter awkwardly responded: “I’m sitting here enjoying this challenge of answering your questions. That’s where I’m at at the moment”
The new hierarchy at the Theatre of Dreams probably wouldn’t harm Potter’s prospects in any recruitment process, with the currently out-of-work boss having previously operated under United’s new director of football, Dan Ashworth, at Brighton. But Potter was keen to keep details of any conversations he had over the summer private.
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“I think out of respect to those people, it’s best those are kept private,” he said. “Dan will want to support and help. That’s my experience working with him. He was very supportive at Brighton. He would challenge at the right time, but want to help.”
It never harms to keep yourself in the good books of any potential future employer.
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Potter struck a genuinely supportive tone for his fellow manager on the show, which FourFourTwo believes is partly due to his naturally respectful nature, but probably also has a lot to do with him knowing exactly how Ten Hag feels through his own experiences at Chelsea.
However, it is clear, in FourFourTwo’s opinion — from the non-answers that Potter gave which would make any politician proud — that the job-hunting coach would be very interested in exploring the United vacancy and has likely already had informal chats to that effect, judging by his reluctance to be drawn on that specific point.
Scrutiny is intense on Ten Hag at the moment, so a couple more poor performances this week from his side could see Potter putting his media career on hold in the very near future.
